Left-Over Wednesdays Special Event: Julia Childs Day Celebration!

As previously referenced on this blog, Saturday, August 15 was Julia Childs' birthday! To celebrate, I had an entire day of cooking Julia recipes! I used Baking With Julia and Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Brunch

Buttermilk Crumb Muffins

Scrambled eggs

Sausage

French-pressed coffee

Berry mix

Dinner

Beef Burgundy

Rice

French bread with goat cheese

Red wine

"Improvised" berry shortcake from the morning's muffins

I had a lovely day cooking...but had forgotten what it's like to cook all day! Recipes will be posted in two more posts, just to keep things organized!

Bon Appetit!

Left-Over Wednesdays: Napa Valley Tomato Sauce

Napa Valley Tomato Sauce

This is a pasta sauce I invented a couple years ago to use some red wine vinegar that I bought on a trip to Napa Valley, California. I had used some of the vinegar for salad, but wanted a use that was a little more special. I serve it over angel hair pasta because the sauce is fairly light in weight. (Heavier, chunkier, meaty sauces call for bigger, thicker pastas) We usually grill or bake chicken breasts to serve with this dish as well. Almost every time we cook this, something about it gets tweaked, so feel free to experiment, and don't feel like you have to follow this to the letter! Hope you enjoy!

4-5 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Olive oil

1/4-1/2 cup high-quality vinegar: red wine, balsamic or raspberry-balsamic varieties

Feta cheese, crumbled

Fresh basil, julienned

1. Saute the shallot and garlic in olive oil until shallots are translucent. Be careful not to let them brown.

2. Add tomatoes, and saute for a couple minutes, salt and pepper mixture.

3. Add the vinegar, stir well and cover to let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Sauce needs to simmer to reduce by at least 1/4 to 1/2.

4. When you are ready to serve, stir in feta cheese and fresh basil.

5. Serve over angel hair pasta with chicken.

*Note: Try to use the highest quality vinegar you can afford, since that is the main body of the sauce. I prefer this recipe with balsamic. Gives the sauce a tangy, rich quality. If you choose to use raspberry-balsamic vinegar, the sauce will be sweeter. Experiment for yourself and have fun!

Left-Over Wednesdays: Angel Chicken

Angel Chicken

I bummed this recipe off a friend I worked with when I was a chef at Saks Inc. I Tweaked a bit, and here it is. Not sure why its named "Angel", that's what Kelly called it...enjoy!

boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 stick butter, melted

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Mix the cracker crumbs and cheese together in a medium bowl. Set up a standard breading line: butter, cracker crumbs, baking dish. Be careful of cross contamination and food safety!

2. Dip each chicken breast in butter, then coat in cracker crumb mixture. Place in shallow baking dish. Sprinkle extra cracker crumbs on top of each breast. The more crispies, the better, as Scott would say!

3. Bake in 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until done.

Left-Over Wednesdays: Beef Goulash

Goulash brings to mind connotations of a mom's home cooked meal gone awry. At least it did for me. But, I looked this receipe over and, hey, it sounds kinda good! So I bought all the ingredients and set out to make this on a cold winter's night.

SO GOOD! I hope you give goulash a chance!

Note: This receipe is from Cook's Country website, a division of America's Test Kitchen. The photos here are my own. All notes that are mine are in bold italics.

Beef Goulash
Serves 6 to 8

The flavor from the beef fat adds an important richness to this stew, so be careful not to trim the meat too closely. We recommend you remove the external fat from the chuck roast, but leave the internal fat, unless it is excessively thick. Serve this hearty stew over buttered egg noodles.

1 boneless beef chuck roast (3-pound), trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
Table salt and ground black pepper
1/4 cup sweet paprika
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 onions , minced
6 cloves garlic , minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 red bell peppers , stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Dry the beef thoroughly with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper and 1 tablespoon of the paprika. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of the meat and cook until well browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the browned meat to a plate. Return the pot to medium-high heat and repeat with 1 more tablespoon of the oil and the remaining beef. (Pay close attention to the cooking times; I rushed this once and the meat was tough.) 2. Add the remaining tablespoon oil to the empty pot and return to medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and the remaining 3 tablespoons paprika. Cook until the onions have softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly stir in the broth, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in the browned beef along with any accumulated juices. Bring to a simmer, cover, and transfer the pot to the oven. Cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes. 3. Stir in the red peppers. Cover and continue to cook in the oven until the meat is just tender, about 40 minutes longer.

4. Remove the pot from the oven. Whisk 1/2 cup of the stewing liquid into the sour cream and add the sour cream mixture to the stew. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste before serving. (I served this with the reccommended egg noodles and it was perfect. I also had extra sour cream on hand for those that desired more!)

Left-Over Wednesday: Marinated Pork Chops with Greek Potatoes

This week's L.O.W. is a day late...sorry! Better late, than never, eh?

Marinated Pork Chops

Scott adapted this marinade recipe from a grilling cookbook he has. He is the grill chef of the family, so I do have to note that the grilling instructions are specifically for charcoal grills. Scott's a bit of a snob about grilling...he'd sooner die than use a gas grill! So, if you use a gas grill, just up your cooking times for the pork chops.

Marinade:
1/2 cup lemon juice
2-3 TBS olive oil
Salt and Pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced

Meat:
2 boneless pork chops, 1 in. thick



1. Whisk all the marinade ingredients together. Place pork chops in a baking dish, pour marinade over, cover and let marinate in refrigerator for at least one hour. (It's ok if it's longer)
2. Flip pork chops over in marinade at least once, half-way through marinating process.
3. When you are ready to grill, place the pork chops on the grill, but reserve the remaining marinade.
4. Initially, leave the chops over the fire for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes have elapsed, flip the chops and pour a little of the marinade on each. Leave over fire for one minute. Flip chops again, and baste with reserved marinade. Continue this process of one minute intervals, flipping and basting each time, until about 6 minutes have elapsed. Chops should be medium-well after 6 minutes. Don't forget this is for charcoal grills, which get much hotter than gas grills! Adjust accordingly.

Greek Potatoes

Small red "new" potatoes, cut into 1/4's
2 shallots, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
Greek seasoning-Cavender's is my favorite
Feta cheese, crumbled




1. Par-boil potatoes for a few minutes until they are just tender. Drain well and place in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add shallots and garlic. Coat all generously with olive oil and sprinkle in at least 2 teaspoons of Greek seasoning, more if desired.
3. Transfer to a baking dish and top with feta cheese. Bake uncovered in 375-degree oven until potatoes are cooked through and cheese starts to get crusty.