AwesomeBites

Category: Dinner Time

  • Veggie Wellington – Mushrooms, Spinach, Roasted Butternut Squash

    This has great eye appeal and it tastes great.
    Basically, you cook each of the ingredients independently and cool, then assemble and bake.
    Serves 8-10

    1 sheet of Puff Pastry – Keep frozen until all your ingredients are cooked.
    1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water for egg wash.

    1 cup of chopped butternut squash.
    Rosemary Sprig
    Olive oil – 3 Tablespoons
    1 tsp of nutmeg sprinkled on squash
    Salt & Pepper

    Mushrooms – 4 Cups Cremini Mushrooms
    3 T butter
    1 tsp Italian Seasoning

    Spinach
    1 small diced onion
    4 cloves of minced garlic
    1/4 cup cream
    1 Tsp Nutmeg
    6 oz of mixed grated cheeses – parmesan and romano
    Salt & Pepper to taste.
    1/2 pound of frozen chopped spinach

    Chicken or Duck Pate 3 ounces – Bottom layer.

    Oven 400 degrees, on a baking sheet, season the butternut squash with sprigs of rosemary and drizzle olive oil. 40 minutes in the oven or until the edges start to turn brown.
    While that is cooking, prepare your mushrooms by slicing and saute in butter and italian seasoning. You want the juice to release from the mushrooms. Continue sauteing until and pour off the juices.
    Save for the spinach. Once they are cooked through, remove from the heat and allow to cool.
    Spinach. Thaw and squeeze as much water from the spinach as possible.
    Dice 1 small onion and saute. Add minced garlic cloves to onions and saute. Add 1/4 cup of cream. Once the cream is hot, add salt and pepper, and the cheese so it melts.
    Add chopped spinach and saute. You want this to be a dry creamed spinach. Moisture will make your puff pastry soggy.
    Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

    Take your puff pastry sheet out of the freezer and allow to come to room temperature.
    When it is thawed enough to rollout, take a rolling pin and roll out to remove any creases. It will be a couple of inches longer that when it was frozen.

    Pre-Heat oven to 375
    Assemble on parchment paper.
    Bottom layer – spread the pate on the middle of the puff pastry leaving 3 inches on each side and 2 inches on top and bottom.
    2nd Layer – sliced mushrooms on top of the pate.
    3rd Layer – place spinach on top of the mushrooms
    4th Layer – place the chopped squash on top of the mushrooms.

    Using egg wash, brush the area not filled with filling.
    Cut the sides 9 or 10 1/2 inch strips.
    Fold the top and bottom edges up over the filling. The middles section that is cut, take each strip and pull over to the other side. Fill in all the gaps.
    Brush the outside with egg wash and
    Place into oven on parchment paper. Bake for 45 minutes until very golden brown.

    I served this a two holiday parties and they loved it!

  • Meatball Bourguignon aka Meatball Burgundy


    This is a Alyce Shultz’s recipe and her boys love it. It is their all time favorite and most requested dinner for a birthday or celebration!
    Thank you Alyce for sharing this recipe with me.

    Meatballs
    1 pound of ground beef (buy sirloin or grind your own chuck roast if you dare)
    1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
    1/2 cup milk
    1/4 cup grated onion
    1 1/2 tsp Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
    1/4 tsp Lawry’s Seasoned Pepper

    1/4 cup salad oil

    Sauce
    3 Tbsp Flour
    2 beef bouillon cubes or Veal Demi glace
    2 cups beef stock
    1 cup Burgundy wine (or Pinot Noir)
    1/2 tsp Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
    1/4 tsp Lawry’s Seasoned Pepper

    Combine ground beef, bread crumbs, milk, onion, salt and pepper. Shape into small meatballs.
    Brown meatballs in hot oil and set aside.
    Blend flour in the hot oil until browned being careful not to burn stirring constantly. When it reaches a nice brown, pour in wine and beef stock and demi glace.
    Return meatballs to the pan and simmer 30 minutes until thickened and smooth and the raw taste of alcohol is gone. Stir occasionally. Speed the process with the best boner meat grinder and other meat tools for your meal.
    Salt and Pepper to taste.
    Serve over buttered egg noodles or mashed potatoes. Yummy! So delicious!

    I like to serve with sauteed mushrooms and carrots on the side, so picky eaters are happy too!
    4-6 servings

    I have made as much as 5 pounds of meatballs at a time. Great for leftovers or a big gathering.

  • Pork Rib Roast Herbs de Provence with Mashed Potatoes and Mango Sauce

    Pork Rib Roast Herbs de Provence with Mashed Potatoes and Mango Sauce

    Bring the Rib Roast to room temperature.
    Preheat oven 400 degrees
    Wash and pat dry with paper towels.
    Place on roasting rack.
    Rub with olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs de provence

    Place in oven uncovered in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, then turn down to 350 degrees until it reaches 145 degrees on your instant read thermometer. Remove from oven, cover with foil. Let rest for 10-15 minutes.

    Gravy:
    To pan drippings, add brown gravy mix. I use one that you mix 1:4 ratio. 1 cup of mix and 4 cups of liquid. And I like to make a wonderful gravy sauce, so instead of all water, I use half in fruit juice. Usually, I use apple juice for pork, but I happened to have mango and this made a lovely sauce. So, on the stovetop bring the gravy mixture to a simmer while whisking in the 2 cups of water and 2 cups of juice.
    Season to taste with salt and pepper and I also used a tsp of cardamom.
    You will love this sauce.
    < Plating: Ladle gravy on bottom of plate, top with mashed potatoes and then, the piece of pork chop. Perfection! Awesome bite!

  • BBQ Chicken Portabello Pizza

    BBQ Chicken Portabello Pizza

    In the best of plans, before I leave for work in the morning, I marinade the mushroom caps in a ziplock back and upon returning home from work, they are ready to go.
    8 large portabello mushroom caps – marinade in your favorite oil and vinegar dressing for 1-8 hours. You can also use corn tortillas, fry until crisp and serve the chicken mixture on top for BBQ Tostados. Or use pizza dough from Trader Joe’s or you local pizza place, or english muffins bagels. All work well.

    BBQ Chicken Filling:
    Cook 4 chicken breasts in a heated skillet with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
    Season with Italian seasonging and garlic cloves finely chopped or pressed.
    Add 1 cup each of; green, red or yellow peppers, chopped zucchini, and sliced mushrooms.
    Add 1 small red onion-thinly sliced
    Simmer for 5 minutes. Slice chicken into bite size pieces.
    Variations: Jalapeno pepper slices, crumbled crispy bacon
    or try Alfredo sauce for your base and use the BBQ sauce in the chicken filling. Yummy.

    Spread Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce onto mushroom caps. Spread chicken/Vegetable mixture on top of BBQ sauce.
    Sprinkle with 1 cup grated mozzarella, monterrey jack, cheddar or crumbled feta cheese.

    Bake mushroom caps for 20-25 minutes until they are fork tender. (Follow instruction for you pizza dough for cooking times and temperatures.)

    Serve with a side salad with BBQ Ranch dressing.

  • Moussaka – Eggplant Casserole

    Moussaka – Eggplant Casserole

    Moussaka hot from the oven!

    Inspired by Bobby Flay’s Moussaka Throwdown, I had to give it a go. 

    Awesome Moussaka

    2 medium eggplants

    salt

    Meat Sauce:

    1 pound ground lamb (or you can use a mixture of beef and lamb)

    2 tablespoons butter

    2 tsp greek seasoning

    1 medium onion finely chopped

    1 clove garlic minced

    1 dash cinnamon

    1/4 tsp nutmeg

    1 T chopped parsley

    1/2  cup mashed Italian Roma Tomatoes

    1/4 cup red wine

    oil

    1/4 cup Romano Cheese or Parmesan, grated

  • Bechamel Sauce:
  • 1 cup salted butter (2 sticks)
  • 1 cup flour
  • 4 cups milk, warmed
  • 8 egg yolks, lightly beaten
  • Pinch of ground nutmeg 

    • Make the Béchamel Sauce:

    Melt butter over low heat. Using a whisk, add flour to melted butter whisking continuously to make a smooth paste. Allow the flour to cook for a minute but do not allow it to brown.

    Add warmed milk to mixture in a steady stream, whisking continuously.

    Simmer over low heat until it thickens a bit but does not boil.

    Remove from heat, and stir in beaten egg yolks and pinch of nutmeg. Return to heat and stir until sauce thickens.  Set aside and assemble the casserole. 

    Slice eggplant long way, thinly and salt. Lay on paper towel to absorb moisture. Prepare meat sauce, brown ground meet add spices, tomatoes, red wine and simmer 30 minutes.

    Rinse salted eggplant, pat dry, fry until golden in the oil.  Drain well on paper towels, patting to remove as much oil as possible.

    Hot from the oven.

    In 9×9 inch baking dish, place a layer of eggplant and top with meat sauce, and then sprinkle romano cheese on top. Continue layering ending in eggplant.  Top with Cheese Sauce.  Bake at 375 degree oven 45 – 60 minutes.  Let stand for 15 minutes before slicing into 3 inch squares.

    Variations:  You can also add potatoes and zucchini along with your eggplant. Cut them thinly, potatoes need to be boiled until fork tender and then can be layered in the casserole.

    I have seen this made with breaded eggplant and no breading.  Try it both ways and let me know which you like best.

    Eggplant Casserole – Greek Style
    Mousakka hot from the oven!
  • Roast Chicken with Rosemary and Orange Marmalade

    Roast Chicken with Rosemary and Orange Marmalade

    Ingredients
    •2 whole 2-pound chickens
    •¼ teaspoon salt
    •¼ teaspoon pepper
    •3 tablespoons olive oil
    •2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
    •6 tablespoons Grand Marnier (or Wild Turkey with 1 T marmalade)
    •3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
    •2 tablespoons brandy
    •2 tablespoons butter
    •4 tablespoons Chicken Stock
    1/4 cup Orange marmalade
    Directions
    Split the chickens into halves. Cut out the backbones and remove the breastbones and ribs with your fingers and a paring knife. Blend the salt and pepper, and season the chickens inside and out.

    Preheat the oven to 500° F.

    Place the chickens skin-side down in a hot, dry 14” ovenproof skillet and brown 5 minutes. Turn the chickens and brown 5 minutes longer, then add the olive oil. Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and roast the chickens 30 minutes, turning them occasionally. Remove from the oven, drain off all fat, and add the remaining ingredients to the pan. Place over high flame and cook 2 minutes, frequently basting and occasionally turning the chickens. Transfer the birds to serving plates and spoon the pan sauce over them. Glaze the chicken with the marmalade about 10 minutes before removing from oven.

    You can use just about any jam as a glaze/marinade on savory items.

    I like plum, apricot, orange and cherry best for chicken. A sweet/tart marmalade is nice on salmon.

    Give it a try.
    If you want to just do dinner for two try the following:

    2 Chicken Breasts
    Jam/Jelly spread over the meat. Bake at 400 degrees about 35 minutes until done.

    Use leftovers on salad the next day for lunch.

  • New York Steaks

    New York Steaks

    New York Steaks

    I use a cast iron skillet and heat it on the stovetop.  Turn the oven on to 400 degrees and let it warm up. 

    Rinse the steaks in water and dry on a paper towel.  Season with salt and pepper – lots.  Coat the bottom of the skillet with canola oil.

    Add the steaks just as the oil starts to smoke.  I usually can fit two steaks in a pan. Do not overload the pan, since you want to sear the outside.  After about 4 minutes, turn the steaks and let sear another 4 minutes.   Now, place the frying pan into the oven and let them continue to cook until they are just the way you like them.   When you remove from the oven, let them sit for 10 minutes so the juices can distribute back into the meat.

    NY Steak with Tomato Marmalade

    Rare:  126  Medium Rare:  136  Well:  140 

    Serve each person a steak, or split a steak by slicing it and serving it fanned out on the plate for smaller eaters.

    NY Steak with Tomato Onion Marmalade

    Serve with Tomato Onion Marmalade.

  • Meatloaf – Ground Beef

    Meatloaf – Ground Beef

    I guess when it is a bit cold outside, immediately I reach for comfort food.  We had meatloaf as a kid once a week.  It was easy fast, feed the crowd and my mom could stretch the meat by adding rolled oats, potato chips, day old bread crumbs, anything available. 

    2 pounds of ground beef

    1 cup bread crumbs or panko or dry bread crumbled up

    1 Tsp oregano

    1 tsp basil

    1 can of green olives (the natural brine) sliced or chopped

    2 cans tomato sauce

    Reserve 1/2 a can to pour over the top.  Variation: You can substitute part of the tomato sauce used in the mix with salsa or diced tomatoes.  Don’t have breadcrumbs, of course you can substitute.  Have extra veggies like carrots add them.  Make sure you slice the olives otherwise they get to be overpowering.

    Serve meatloaf hot with mashed potatoes.

  • Macaroni and Cheese

    Macaroni and Cheese

    We don’t have to talk about comfort do we?  You know this is the main reason you eat mac and cheese.  When you need a little warmness in your tummy.  This is adult comfort food with the Blue Cheese.  If you are making for a crowd, you can do half with blue and half with cheddar, then the kids and my husband are happy too!  Dennis loves extra sharp cheddar.

    My bite!

    16 ounces of macaroni – I used the big elbows boil until al dente

    2 packages of four cheese sauce mix made according to package directions or 1 jar of of four cheese sauce

    2 ounces of parmesan cheese grated

    2 ounces of  crumbled blue cheese (or sharp cheddar)

    mix the cooked macaroni with the sauce reserving 1/2 cup to pour over the top.

    Sprinkle the parmesan and blue cheese over the macaroni and sauce mixture.  Pour the last bit of sauce over the cheese.

    Pop in the oven for 10 minutes.

    Bake at 350 degrees.

    This is good.  You could top it with a bread crumb mixture, but I like mine plain.

  • Roast Beef – Beef Tenderloin, Sirloin, Ribeye, or New York Strip

    Roast Beef – Beef Tenderloin, Sirloin, Ribeye, or New York Strip

    I love prime rib, but you can easily use sirloin.  I remember reading in one of my cookbooks, if you want to cook better, start out by buying better quality food.   That holds true for a wonderful roast.  So, if you want to splurg, go with Beef Tenderloin.  Meat should be out of the refrigerator for 1 hour so it can be at room temperature before roasting.  Rinse it and trim as necessary.  Pat it dry with paper towels. 

    Trim of all fat and silverskin.

    Heat your oven to 500 degrees for 30 minutes. 

    Season the Prime Rib Roast with your favorite salt and pepper and garlic rub. I use a little olive oil and rub it on the meat, then use pat on your rub of salt pepper and garlic or use the mustard rub that follows. 

    LOW HEAT METHOD: Sear the meat on the stovetop prior to roasting in the oven.  Smear mustard rub over the meat and place on rack of roasting pan.  Reduce the heat in oven to 225 degrees.  Bake until temperature probe reads 135 degrees.  Turn down your oven to it’s lowest setting 140-200 degrees and keep warm until ready to serve.

    Slice into 1/4 inch slices or serve from the buffet line.

    Ribeye Roast

    HIGH HEAT METHOD:  Place the beef on rack of roasting pan in a 450 degree oven for 5 minutes per pound at high heat.  For instance, after preheating your oven, a 3 pound roast should be at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.  Then, shut the oven off.  DON’T OPEN THE DOOR.  Let the oven slowly cool down for the next 90 minutes.  You meat should turn out medium rare in the middle and perfect to eat

    Mustard Rub:

    1/4 cup whole-grain mustard
    3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
    1 Tbs. dried savory, finely crumbled
    1 Tbs. dried thyme, finely crumbled
    1 whole filet of beef (7 to 8 lb. untrimmed or 5 to 6 lb. trimmed)
    Vegetable oil for sautéing
    Coarse salt
    Freshly ground black pepper

    In a small bowl, mix together the mustard, olive oil, savory, and thyme. 

    Cut the filet in half to make two equal pieces about 7 inches long. You’ll have one piece with the broad double-pieced butt portion and a thinner piece that tapers to a small tip. Tuck the tapered tip under and tie with twine to fashion two equally thick roasts. Tie each roast at 2-inch intervals.Heat the oven to 450°F. Heat a heavy-duty roasting pan or large Dutch oven or skillet over medium-high heat. Pour in enough vegetable oil to just cover the bottom of the pan. Pat the filets dry, salt them generously, and lay them in the pan; cook without disturbing them until the bottoms are a rich brown. Turn the beef and sear the other sides. It will take about 4 min. per side (there are three or four sides per roast) to get a good sear.

    When the filets are seared, transfer them to a cutting board, brush them with the mustard and herb mix, and then generously grind fresh pepper over them. Put a rack in the roasting pan, lay the meat on the rack, and roast until the internal temperature reaches 120°F for medium rare, about 20 min. (Check after 15 min.; roasting time will vary depending on searing time.) Remove the filets from the oven and let them rest in a warm spot for at least 15 min. before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.