The Good Plate

Archive for the ‘Italian’ Category

Again, just as on the 1st of the New Year, when I made Ascencia Salad, there was no guest chef, and The Good Plate again came to the rescue. When I looked for what was on hand, there was still a lot of pasta in the pantry, so I made my list to make Pasta Carbonara. I wanted everyone to have a well balanced meal, so the green choice was brocolli instead of salad.

Luckily, there were two large bags of French rolls, perfect for my Garlic Cheese Rolls. We also had a wonderful salad of peas, pepper jack and celery made by guest chef Jerome. A good and healthy time was had by all.

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You never know what life is going to give you, and tonight, the very first night of the New Year, I received something that made my heart leap with joy. I got to cook dinner for 40 people!

When the guest chef did not arrive, I asked if I could cook dinner, and my friend said, “Yes”. First I looked in the pantry, and was amazed to not find any of the things I usually have in my pantry, like onions, or potatoes. There was a lot of pasta, and a lot of spaghetti sauce, frozen turkey sausage, frozen garlic bread, many cans of tuna, two cans of kidney beans, one can of pinto beans, and a can of chopped tomatoes. No problem! The Good Plate to the rescue.

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Recipes in this Post

Grilled London Broil with Rosemary, Mushrooms and Shallots

• Grilled Garlic Studded Red Wine Marinated London Broil with Rosemary Sprigs
• Grilled Mushrooms and Shallots in Sherry

Many years ago, when I thought that my oven didn’t work (it did, I wasn’t doing right), I marinated a steak and some fresh rosemary and put that on the grill. It was delicious! As the steak cooked, the fresh rosemary sprigs gave off their own smoky goodness.

I could not think of a better dish to put on the barbecue for 4th of July. What goes great with steak? Mushrooms! What goes great with mushrooms? Shallots and sherry. So, I’m going to grill some mushrooms with sherry and shallots to accompany my London Broil. Spane asked for Barbecued Chips instead of potato salad. In a way, I’m really happy because everything but the Balsamic Strawberry and Blueberry Trifle with Lemon Cream is going on the grill.

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Recipes in this Post

Fresh Basil and Pine Nut Pesto

• Fresh Basil and Pine Nut Pesto

I think all of us have been tempted to buy the pesto sauce in the refrigerated sauce section at the supermarket. The one at the supermarket has things in it you will never find in fresh pesto, whey, milk, canola oil, water and 2% or less of garlic puree. Some brands do have pine nuts, others use walnuts. But, there is nothing like the real thing.

Pesto is one of the easiest sauces to make, and can be used on a variety of foods. Heck, it’s good just on a spoon!

When you make pesto, it’s important to have fresh ingredients. If you can find pine nuts in the refrigerated section, those are best. If not, look for nuts that are of a uniform pale cream color, with no spots. Pine nuts are the edible seeds of, yes, pine trees. Please use good Parmesan cheese as well, you don’t have to get Parmigiano-Reggiano, but at least get the cheese in the refrigerated section.

If you’re angry at someone and want to take your aggression out on something, you can use a mortar and pestle, and grind away for a very long time. Or, if you don’t have any aggression, then please use a food processor.

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Recipes in this Post

Ox-tail served over noodles

• Braised Ox Tails

When I was a little girl growing up in Germany, when we had Oxen Shvantz Suppe it was always a real treat. Braised with wine for hours they are tender and juicy. They are wonderful on a cold, rainy winter day.

What are ox tails, you ask? Well, they are the tail of an ox or steer which is cut into 2 to 3 inch pieces. They are very meaty and make a nice gravy, all on their own. How do you eat ox tails? You get most of the meat out with your fork, then you pick the piece up and suck all the goodness out of the bone. A bone bowl is a good thing to have on the table when you are serving ox tails.

When you go to buy ox tails, be sure and get them from a reputable butcher. The bony part should be bright white, the sinew pink, and the meat should be nice and red. I was lucky, my butcher brought out a tail and cut it there in front of me with his incredibly sharp knife. You can’t get any fresher than that.

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Manicotti Served

Manicotti is a child friendly food. Most kids love spaghetti and pasta. What could be more fun than stuffing tubes and then eating them? Kids can get a little messy, but that’s their job, right?

My friend, Chef John Farion, came over and brought me a large container of cottage cheese. I did not think that Spane and I could eat if fast enough for it not to go bad, so I decided to stuff something with it. Quite frequently, cottage cheese is used for lasagna, but I don’t like meatless lasagna, and I wanted it for Friday. Oddly enough, I had everything I needed already at home, so I bought some manicotti and brought it home.

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