Coq au Vin

This meal was definitely family inspired. I remember going to Grandma VR's house as a kid for dinner on Sunday. It was always a tasty home cooked meal which usually included pie for dessert! One of my favorites was Grandmas chicken, served with mashed potatoes and corn. And the gravy -  mmmmmmm good!

Well I did not have Grandmas chicken recipe handy so I searched for something else. I found the Coq au Vin ( chicken, onions and mushrooms braised in red wine and seasonings) recipe on the website simplyrecipes.com and it sounded tasty. For the potatoes I turned to my mom. Last year when I was home visiting she made some oven roasted potatoes that were delicious. I gave her a call and the recipe was emailed in minutes. Thanks mom!

No meal is complete without a tasty salad, so you guessed it - Johnny Yoga! Johnny brought the salad along with a bottle of 1998 Caliterra. A Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile. Excelente!

Enjoy!

Raspberry Salad
ingredients
baby spinach
walnuts

Gorgonzola cheese

raspberries

raspberry vinaigrette

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and toss with dressing. Serve on chilled plates









Coq au Vin
 Ingredients
1/2 lb bacon slices
20 pearl onions, peeled, or 1 large yellow onion, sliced
3 lbs chicken thighs and legs, excess fat trimmed, skin ON
6 garlic cloves, peeled
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups red wine (pinot noir, burgundy, or zinfandel)
2 bay leaves
Several fresh thyme sprigs
Several fresh parsley sprigs
1/2 lb button mushrooms, trimmed and roughly chopped
2 Tbsp butter
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Method
Blanch the bacon to remove some of its saltiness. Drop the bacon into a saucepan of cold water, covered by a couple of inches. Bring to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes, drain. Rinse in cold water, pat dry with paper towels. Cut the bacon into 1 inch by 1/4 inch pieces.

Brown bacon on medium high heat in a dutch oven big enough to hold the chicken, about 10 minutes. Remove the cooked bacon, set aside. Keep the bacon fat in the pan. Working in batches if necessary, add onions and chicken, skin side down. Brown the chicken well, on all sides, about 10 minutes. Halfway through the browning, add the garlic and sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. (Note: it is best to add salt while cooking, not just at the very end. It brings out the flavor of the chicken.)

Spoon off any excess fat. Add the chicken stock, wine, and herbs. Add back the bacon. Lower heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until chicken is tender and cooked through. Remove chicken and onions to a separate platter. Remove the bay leaves, herb sprigs, garlic, and discard.

 Add mushrooms to the remaining liquid and turn the heat to high. Boil quickly and reduce the liquid by three fourths until it becomes thick and saucy. Lower the heat, stir in the butter. Return the chicken and onions to the pan to reheat and coat with sauce. Adjust seasoning. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Oven Roasted Potatoes

INGREDIENTS:

1/8 cup olive oil                                

½ teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon minced garlic         

½ teaspoon dried parsley

½ teaspoon dried basil                  

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon dried marjoram       

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon dried dill weed        

½ teaspoon dried thyme

4 large potatoes cut in large chunks (I use red potatoes and leave the skins on)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine oil, garlic, basil, marjoram, dill weed, thyme, oregano, parsley, red pepper flakes, and salt.  Stir in potatoes until evenly coated.  Place potatoes in a single layer on a roasting pan or baking sheet.

Roast for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, turning occasionally to brown on all sides.

Put it all together on a big platter, dig in and enjoy.

See you all next Sunday. Cheers!

Back to Basics

After an excellent March Birthday celebration, we went back to basics for a comforting Sunday Supper. Tonight we had a few of the March celebrants over for a more relaxing supper to end the weekend. K was paging through her House Beautiful and found a recipe for Killer Mac and Cheese. Perfect for winding down the weekend. Johnny Yoga was once again in charge of the salad and he did not disappoint!

Menu
pickled beet salad
killer mac and cheese
a side of leftover meatballs
crispy croutons (furnished by Rindy)

pickled beet salad
ingredients:
organic romaine lettuce
pickled beets

feta cheese

cherry tomatoes

hard boiled eggs

red onion

raspberry vinaigrette

Add ingredients to large bowl and mix well

A Killer Mac 'N' Cheese
courtesy of Jamie Oliver

ingredients:

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons butter
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
10 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
6 fresh bay leaves
1 quart reduced-fat (2 percent) milk
4 cups elbow macaroni
8 tomatoes

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
A few springs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
Optional: a couple of splashes of Worcestershire sauce, such as Lea & Perrins
Optional: a grating of nutmeg
3 big handfuls of fresh bread crumbs
Olive oil

Get a large saucepan of salted water on to boil. Melt the butter in a large ovenproof saucepan, or Dutch oven, over a low heat, then add the flour and turn the heat up to medium, stirring all the time, until you get a paste — this is your roux. Add all the sliced garlic — don't worry about the amount, because each slice will caramelize like toffee in the roux. Keep cooking and stirring until golden and the garlic is nice and sticky. Add the bay leaves and slowly whisk in the milk a little at a time to ensure you get a nice smooth sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, then leave on a low heat to simmer and tick away, stirring occasionally. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Farenheit.

Add the pasta to the pan of boiling salted water and cook following the package instructions. Meanwhile, roughly chop the tomatoes on a board and season them well with salt and pepper. Drain the pasta and add it immediately to the sauce. Give it a good stir and take the pan off the heat. Stir in your grated cheese, chopped tomatoes, and some of the thyme leaves. A little Worcestershire sauce added now is nice, so is a little grating or two of nutmeg. Now work on the flavor — taste it and season it until it's hitting the right spot. You want it to be slightly too wet because it will thicken up again in the oven, so add a splash of water if needed.

If you've made your sauce in a Dutch oven, leave everything in there; if not, transfer it to a deep earthenware dish. Bake it for 30 minutes in the oven, until golden, bubbling, crispy, and delicious.

While it's cooking, put your bread crumbs and remaining thyme into a frying pan with a few drizzles of olive oil over a medium heat. Stir and toss the crumbs around until crunchy and golden all over. Remove from the heat and tip into a nice bowl. Serve your macaroni and cheese in the center of the table, with your bowl of crispy bread crumbs for sprinkling over.

Grab a plate and dig in!

That's Amore! Sunday Supper - Special Edition

With March comes March Madness, Spring and of course March Birthdays.You may be asking yourself, March Birthdays?? I have never heard of that. Well this tradition came about as we became close friends with our next door neighbors - Steve, Cindy and the girls.. Not only is K's birthday in March but so is Steve's and the 2 girls, as well as our friend Johnny Yoga. It started with a nice dinner followed by cake and ice cream. It has evolved over the years and the guest list has grown.

Last night was a big night with Johnny turning 40! Our friend Beth suggested an 'Italian Bistro' theme.We loved the idea and K ( the party planner) ran with it. After trips to a few Goodwill's and various 2nd hand stores we were able to get some excellent items for the party. We were having 15 guests plus K and me. Our biggest sit down dinner to date. Our house is not that large so we had to move some furniture, borrow some chairs and a card table to accommodate everyone.

Our living room was transformed into the Bistro we envisioned:

We decided on the following menu:

antipasti platter
Caesar salad
garlic bread
spaghetti and meatballs
birthday cake w/ice cream
pots de creme

A couple of neighbors volunteered to make the salad, the bread, and bring the birthday cake. This left the spaghetti, meatballs and antipasti platter for me and K. With a party this big we needed good planning and execution to pull it off.

Wednesday -
Marinara sauce
Friday -
meatballs
roasted peppers

The roasted peppers (prepared by K) turned out to be a bit harder then expected. The recipe was "easy" according to the directions. After roasting, K had a tough time peeling off the skin. So back into the broiler to roast a bit more. She had a little more success the 2nd time but she decided to leave the cooking to me in the future and stick with the planning and decorating. In K's words "This is stupid".

On Saturday we put the antipasti platter together, finished the set up and decorations and put the sauce on the stove to heat up. This was 3 1/2 hours until serving time. As we looked at the pot of sauce, panic set in and we were sure we would not have enough. I Googled 'how much sauce per person' and the results were grim. We might run short so K made the call - More Sauce!!
Now the sauce needs to cook for 2 1/2 - 3 hours so we had not time to spare. Working together we chopped, minced and sauteed and got the pot on the stove in record time. In the end it was one of the 'Best Parties Ever' and we are looking forward to November Birthdays!

Enjoy!

antipasti platter
ingredients:
assorted meats -
manchego cheese
roasted pepper salad with kalamata olives
olives
bagette

meatballs
ingredients:

Extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, 1/4-inch dice
Salt
2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
Pinch crushed red pepper
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork
2 large eggs
1 cup grated Parmigiano
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup water

Directions
Coat a large saute pan with olive oil, add the onions and bring to a medium-high heat. Season the onions generously with salt and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes. The onions should be very soft and aromatic but have no color. Add the garlic and the crushed red pepper and saute for another 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool.

In a large bowl combine the meats, eggs, Parmigiano, parsley and bread crumbs. It works well to squish the mixture with your hands. Add the onion mixture and season generously with salt and squish some more. Add the water and do 1 final really good squish. The mixture should be quite wet. Test the seasoning of the mix by making a mini hamburger size patty and cooking it. The mixture should taste really good! If it doesn't it is probably missing salt. Add more. Add more anyway.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Shape the meat into desired size. Some people like 'em big some people like 'em small. I prefer meatballs slightly larger than a golf ball. Coat a large saute pan with olive oil and bring to a medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake them in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked all the way through. If using right away, add them to your big pot of marinara sauce. If not using right away, they can be frozen for later use. Serve with pasta and sauce or just eat them straight out of the pot! YUM!

marinara sauce

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 pound diced pancetta
2 large Spanish onions, cut into 1/4-inch dice
Kosher salt
4 large garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
4 (28-ounce) cans Italian plum San Marzano tomatoes
Coat a large saucepot with olive oil and add the pancetta. Bring the pot to a medium-high heat and cook the pancetta for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the onions, season generously with salt and stir to coat with olive oil.

Cook the onions for 6 to 7 minutes stirring frequently. The onions should become very soft and aromatic but have no color. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes stirring frequently.

Pass the tomatoes through the food mill. Be sure to pass all of the pulp through the holes leaving only the stems and the seeds, and be sure to scrape the pulp off of the bottom of the food mill. That's all of the big money stuff! Add the tomatoes to the pot and rinse out 1 of the empty tomato cans with water and add that water to the pot (about 2 to 3 cups). Season generously with salt and TASTE IT!!!! Tomatoes take a lot of salt. Season in baby steps and taste every step of the way. Cook the sauce for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally and tasting frequently.

Fun had by all!

Simple is good

First thought for tonight's supper was 'Not My Momma's Meatloaf'. An updated and tasty version using turkey and sun-dried tomatos but K has given up bread for lent so no bread crumbs! This will have to wait for another night. Instead we had roasted chicken w/veggies and roasted garlic mashed potatos. A nice substitute if I do say so myself.

The Roasted Chicken w/veggies comes from Ina Garten. I have made this in the past and it always turns out delicious. Although I tend to over do the veggies so will need to work on that in the future. We had our usual Sunday night guest over who once again provided a tasty salad.

Tonights Menu:

baby spinach salad

perfect roast chicken

roasted garlic mashed potatos

lemon and white chocolate pots de creme
Note - This dessert and receipe can be found on a previous blog here:
http://tandksundaysupper.blogspot.com/2011/03/success.html

baby spinach salad

Ingredients:

baby spinach

feta cheese

pine nuts

craisons

lunds basalmic vinaigrette

Toss all ingredients to taste in large bowl and top with dressing

perfect roast chicken
Receipt courtesy of Ina Garten.

Ingredients:

1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs

1 lemon, halved

1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted

1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges
Olive oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.

Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

roasted garlic mashed potatos

K made the call to add goat cheese to this dish and it gave the potatos a little extra zing. Worth doing again, thanks K!

Ingedients:

2-3 lbs potatos

4 cloves roasted garlic

1-2 oz goat cheese

heavy cream

butter

directions:

Boil potatos until soft, about 15 minutes, drain well. Add heavy cream, butter and goat cheese to hot pan and stir. Add potatos back to pan along with the roasted garlic. Mash by hand or using a mixer until smooth. Add more cream to get desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.

roasted garlic

I use a terra cotta garlic roaster for this

Cut about 1/2 - 3/4 inch from top of garlic bulb, exposing cloves. Peel of some of the paper but keep glove intact. Roast at 425 degrees, stating with a cold oven, for 40-50 minutes.

Success!

The supper was excellent.Although there were some tense moments while cooking the Lemon White Chocolate Pot de Creme. Recipe calls for 30 minutes of baking time but I ended up cooking it for over 50 minutes. I think the baking dish I used was too heavy and increased the time. It was definitely worth the wait.

We had our friend J. Yoga over as a taste tester since we were trying new receipes. In his words "Best Soup Ever!!" The asparagus soup with the fresh basil had a clean, refreshing taste. The filet mignon was cooked to a perfect medium rare, tender and juicy. Finds out K prefers this cooking method over the BBQ for filets. I thought it was excellent but still prefer the smoking flavor the charcoal grill.

This menu makes for an elegant but simple meal. Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Asparagus Soup with Herbed Goat Cheese

Ingredients
Goat cheese:
1/2 cup (4 ounces) goat cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil cooking spray
Soup:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large leek (white and light green part only), thinly sliced
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 pounds medium asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Special equipment: a 1/2-ounce cookie or ice cream scoop
Directions
Goat cheese: Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Using a fork, in a small bowl, combine the goat cheese and basil until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Using a 1/2-ounce cookie scoop or a round tablespoon measure sprayed with vegetable oil cooking spray, scoop the goat cheese into balls and arrange on the prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Soup: In a Dutch oven or large saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring constantly until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the broth, asparagus and basil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the asparagus is tender, about 15 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Keep the soup warm over low heat.
To serve: Ladle the soup into shallow bowls and garnish with the herbed goat cheese.

Cook's Note: The soup can also be pureed by ladling, in batches, into a food processor or blender and blended until smooth

Filet Mignon with Rosemary and Mushroom Gravy

Note: I left out the Rosemary - not a big fan

Ingredients
Steaks:

Vegetable oil cooking spray

2 (8-ounce) filet mignon steaks
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
Gravy:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large or 4 small shallots, minced
2 cups (about 5 ounces) assorted mushrooms, such as cremini, shiitake and button, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry Marsala wine
1 1/2 cups low-sodium beef broth
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
Directions
Steak: Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a small baking sheet with vegetable oil cooking spray. Set aside. Season the steaks with salt and pepper, to taste. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the steaks and brown on all sides, about 4 minutes. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes for medium-rare doneness. Let the steaks rest for 5 minutes on a cutting board.

Gravy: In the same skillet used for the steak, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and mushrooms and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook until the shallots are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in the beef broth and rosemary. Whisk in the flour until smooth. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until half of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce has thickened slightly, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Cutting across the grain, slice the steak into 1/4-inch thick slices and arrange on a platter. Pour the sauce into a serving bowl and serve alongside the meat.

Lemon and White Chocolate Pots de Creme

Ingredients
2 (3 1/2-ounce) bars white chocolate chopped into 1/4-inch pieces (recommended: Lindt) 3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup whole milk
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
Pinch fine sea salt
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
Special equipment: 4 (4-ounce) ramekins or custard cups
Directions
Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Put the white chocolate in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a small saucepan, over low heat, add the cream and milk and heat until hot but not boiling. Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and stir until smooth. In another medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest, and salt together until smooth. Slowly whisk the cream mixture into the egg mixture until smooth. Ladle the custard into 4 (4-ounce) ramekins or custard cups. Arrange the ramekins in an 8 by 8-inch square baking dish. Pour enough hot water in the baking dish to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 30 minutes until the custard is almost set and still slightly soft in the center (custard will set as it cools). Let the ramekins cool for 30 minutes in the baking dish. Remove the ramekins from the water and refrigerate for 3 hours or up to 1 day.
Garnish with fresh raspberries and serve.

What's for Supper?

I got up this morning and as I was drinking coffee and thinking about what to cook for supper, I happened upon Food Network. Giada at Home was just coming on with an episode titled "All Dressed Up". This sounded interesting at right along the lines of a Sunday Supper. The menu included, filet mignon, asparagus soup and a lemon and white chocolate Pots de creme. Tasty! I have found the menu.

Time to go to the store to get supplies and start cooking. Be back later with the results.