AwesomeBites

Category: Dinner Time

  • Chicken Parmigiano

    Chicken Parmigiano

    “I feel like Italian food tonight.”  This is one of those quick dinners you can make in 30 minutes.  If you are going to serve with pasta or rice, get those started, then move on to pounding your chicken breasts.  Turn the oven on to preheat at 350. 

    3 tablespoons olive oil

    3 eggs beaten

    Panko Bread Crumbs

    Season with ground rosemary, salt, pepper

    1 1/2 cups Tomato Sauce or marinara sauce.

    1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella or pepper jack

    16 teaspoons grated Parmesan.

    Pound your skinless chicken breasts into filets. Use a mallet and a ziplock bag to minimize the mess. Pounding the chicken breast, you are trying to get a uniform thickness of about 3/8’s of an inch so the chicken cooks evenly.

    Dip the chicken in beaten egg, and then the seasoned panko breadcrumbs.

    Brown the chicken filets in olive oil, about 3 minutes per side.

    Place on a baking sheet, and spoon over the top a couple of tablespoons of marinara sauce.  Top with your cheeses and then bake the browned filets for about 10 minutes in the oven until they reach 160 degrees on your instant read thermometer. 

  • Eggplant Parmesan – Parmigiana di Melanzani

    1 1/2 pounds eggplant, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch slices

    Salt

    Flout

    1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil

    2 cups your favorite pasta sauce

    8 ounces mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

    1/2 cup freshly greated Parmesan cheese

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Choose a shallow 2 quart baking dish that is attractive enough to serve from and rub with olive oil.

    Sprinkle both sides of eggplant slices with salt (to draw out the moisture)  and spread them out in one layer on a platter or board. After 20-30 minutes pat he eggplant dry with paper towels. dip each slice in flour and shake off excess.  In a heavy skillet, in oil, brown both sides of the eggplant. Drain on paper towels.

    Pour 1 cup of tomato sauce into the oiled bake and serve pan. Spread the eggplant slices over tomato sauce, top with a layer of mozzarella and parmesan. Repeat with 1 or 2 more layers being sure to finish up with tomato and cheese on top. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake another 10 minutes.  You can place the dish under the broiler for a few minutes to brown the cheese, but be careful not to overdo.

  • Pork Chops with Cardamon Pear Sauce

    Pork Chops with Cardamon Pear Sauce

    Pan fry pork chops and to brown and finish baking in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

    Mix Cardamon Pear Butter with Pork Gravy and serve with mashed potatoes.

    So, so good.

    If you are out of Cardamom Pear Butter,

    Heat oven to 350 degrees
    3 pears, cut in half, peel and core
    1 T olive oil (you could use walnut oil)
    1 T butter
    1 cup chardonnay
    1 tsp cardamom
    1 tsp salt
    Fry the pears, round side down until nicely browned, turn and add wine, cardamom and salt.
    Cover, put in oven for 20 minutes until fork tender.

    While your pears are poaching, fry your pork chops until brown on 4 minutes on both sides, then place them in the oven to finish cooking.
    Serve pear and chop on a plate. Drizzle the plate with the pear juice. Garnish with a sprinkle of toasted pine nuts.

  • Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)

    2 T peanut oil

    2 pounds chicken thighs (boned and quartered)

    2 oz butter or ghee

    2 tsp garam masala

    2 tsp paprika

    2 tsp coriander

    1 T chopped fresh ginger

    1/4 tsp chili powder

    6 cardamon pods bruised

    1/2 tsp ground cinammon or 1 cinnamon stick

    11 oz pureed tomatoes

    1 T sugar

    3/4 cup sour cream  OR 1/4 cup yogurt, 1/2 cup cream, and 1 T lemon juice

    Brown thighs in oil in batches, set aside.

    Combine butter and spices and stirfry for 1 minute. Add chicken to spices and stir to coat.

    Add tomato, sugar and simmer for 15 minutes until sauce is thick.  Add yogurt, cream and lemon and simmer for 5 minutes.

    Serve with rice and poppedoms.

  • Green Pasta – al verde pasta

    Green Pasta – al verde pasta

    Fresh Spinach works great in this recipe.

    My mom didn’t have a food processor when I was kid, so all this would have been hand chopped.  I loved green spaghetti night.  I didn’t have the original recipe, so I kept trying to find a recipe that came close.  This is the grown up version, my mom would not have used hot pepper flakes, feeding so many kids, but it does make it good.  Speaking to many different cooks, they assumed that green spaghetti would be pesto.  Maybe, but my mom had limited ingredients.  She would use basil and parsley fresh from the garden, and she  may have walnuts and almonds, but certainly no pine nuts. 

    Ingredients:

    • 5 cloves garlic
    • 1 bunch green onions
    • 3 cups packed fresh basil, stems removed
    • 3 cups packed fresh italian parsley or spinach or swiss chard, stems removed
    • 1 lemon; remove zest and squeeze juice
    • 1 (10oz) jar stuffed olives, drained
    • 1 (3 oz) jar capers, drained
    • 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
    • 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
    • good quality olive oil

    Preparation:

    In food processor, with the motor running, drop in garlic, green onions, and lemon zest. Process until finely minced. Add olives, capers, & hot pepper flakes and process until finely minced. Add as much parsley and basil as will fit and process with pulse turns. Repeat until all ingredients are processed. With motor running, add lemon juice and Parmesan cheese. Slowly add enough olive oil to make a “pesto” consistency. Separate into 1 cup containers. Each cup coats about a pound pasta.  I like it on fettuccini or spaghetti. Mix sauce with hot pasta and toss well. Garnish with cherry tomato quarters and fresh basil leaf slivers. Sauce freezes well.
    Fettuccini noodles

    I made this green pasta into a pasta salad, served cold and added chopped olives and tomatoes. Add a bite Lite Champagne Vinegarette or Dill Ranch so it is moist. Everyone loves it!

  • Sauted Lobster and Spinach Salad

    1 lobster split in half

    1/8 cup sliced onions

    1/4 cup sliced mushrooms

    1/4 cup cherry tomatoes halved

    1/4 cup bacon crumbles

    2 T butter

    2 T  olive oil

    4 T Poppyseed or Vadalia Onion Salad Dressing or garlic confit with garlic oil

    1/4 cup cream

    fresh bag of spinach

    Heat the saute pan with olive oil, fry lobster in shell meat side down, saute onions and mushrooms and bacon bits at same time.

    Cover and steam lobster, add butter, cream and dressing, tomatoes to skillet.  Pepper and Salt to taste.

    Add spinach and toss, and remove from pan.  Distibute among plates, serving immediately.   

    If you have all shrimp or scallops you can add those as well.

  • Double Pork Chops and Apple Gravy

    2 double cut thick pork chops

    Salt and Pepper the Pork Chops.  Sear Pork Chops in cast iron frying pan, and then finish in a 350 degree oven. 

    Make pork gravy with apple juice instead of water or broth.  Serve with hot mashed potatoes, add gravy to the plate and lay the

    Pork Chop on top of the gravy leaning on the potatoes.  Your guests will love this meal.

    Simple, but delicious.

  • Roast Lamb with Pinot Noir Sauce

    If you don’t have time to grill, go for the roast.

    Servings: 6 People

    Ingredients

    3 Racks of Lamb (6 to 8 Chops per rack), fat removed and frenched.
    2 tablespoons honey

    Pinot Noir Marinade:
    2 cups Pinot Noir Wine
    1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
    3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
    2 tablespoons minced garlic
    2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
    1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
    1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

    In a large bowl, combine pinot noir wine, olive oil, rosemary, garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.

    In a small saucepan, bring the reserved honey/marinade mixture to a boil; let boil until mixture is reduced by 1/2. Additional pinot noir wine may be needed – use your best judgment. Keep warm until ready to serve.

    Preparation

    *Trim fat from roast to expose 1 to 1 1/2-inches of bones and about 1/8-inch of fat on meat. An easier way is to ask your butcher to dress rack and trim all fat from the ribs.

    I like to use large resealable plastic bags for the marinating. One (1) lamb rack fits nicely into a large plastic bag. Divide the marinade between your bags of lamb racks. I also like to marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

    When ready to cook, remove from refrigerator 1 hour before grilling to bring to room temperature. Remove lamb rack from marinade; reserving the marinade. Mix honey into marinade and set aside to use when serving the lamb.

    When ready to grill, preheat barbecue grill to medium-high heat (350 degrees F). Sear the lamb racks on the hot grill, fat side down for 1 minute. Turn and sear the other side for 1 minute. Turn back onto fat side and cook for approximately 6 to 8 minutes, basting occasionally with the Pinot Noir Marinade. Turn and cook another 6 to 8 minutes, basting occasionally, or until a meat thermometer registers desired temperature (see below).

    Rare – 120°F
    Medium Rare – 125°F
    Medium – 130°F

    Remove from grill and transfer onto a cutting board; let stand 15 minutes before carving. During this time the meat continues to cook (meat temperature will rise 5 to 10 degrees after it is removed from the oven).

    When ready to serve, slice between racks into single-rib portions (hold the rack by the bones and in one slice, run the knife between the ribs) and serve on individual serving plates. Top the lamb with the reserved honey/marinade mixture.