Tag: dinner

Chicken Scarpariello – an underrated crowd favorite!

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Ingredients

Directions

  1. In small batches, add chicken along with seasoned flour in a medium sized mixing bowl. Mix until combined. 
  2. Over medium heat, place a large, high-walled skillet. Once hot, lightly drizzle with olive oil then add in the sausage. Cook until browned on all sides. Once browned, remove from the pan and set aside. The sausage does not need to be fully cooked.
  3. Drizzle the pan with a little more olive oil and add the lightly floured chicken. Work in batches, repeating step 1 with unfloured chicken. Brown chicken on all sides. Once browned, remove and set aside, again not to worry if chicken isn’t fulled cooked. While the chicken is browning, slice on a the sausage on a diagonal angle.
  4. Add a little more olive oil to a pan as needed, along with the smashed garlic. Lightly season with salt, and cook until fragrant. Add in herbs, then peppers. Then add in equal amounts of flour & butter. Allow the flour to cook, and thicken with butter / pan drippings. Deglaze the pan with white wine. Allow alcohol took cook off. Liquid with thicken, and reduce to about half. Gently scrap the bottom of the pan to release all the fond, as needed.
  5. Once the wine has reduced, add the sausage and chicken back to the pot. Then pour in the broth. 
  6. Let the Scarp simmer until the sauce thickens and the chicken is tender, stirring occasionally. This process can take 10-20 minutes. Give that sauce a taste, and adjust seasoning along the way.
  7. Once thicken, remove the Scarp from the heat and enjoy.

Plating

Scarp serves very well over pasta. While Penne is one of my favs, Farfalle is a great option, too. Just be sure to not overcook. The pasta should be served al dente. If you go this route, under cook the pasta by a few minutes. After drained, over heat, toss in with some sauce, and butter. Place the pasta in a bowl, and top with the Scarp. Pasta can help cut some of the heat, see below for more modifications in that regard.

Modifications

Chicken Scarp is traditionally made to have some heat to it. You can certainly sub the hot cherry peppers with sweet, and go with a mild sausage. I’ve made batched with only 1 cup of hot cherry peppers vs the 2. I’ve also made 1/2 mild, and 1/2 sweet Italian sausage. This will layer the flavors, while providing some heat, but not overwhelm the masses. Fennel sausage is key. With that said, I would not sub with a non Italian sausage.

Eggplant Parmigiana

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Ingredients:

  • 1 lb of eggplant, sliced thin
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/4 of a cup of flour, seasoned with S&P.
  • 3/4 of a cup of unflavored breadcrumbs
  • 3/4 of a cup of grated parmesan or romano cheese
  • 1/4 of a cup of fresh garlic, minced
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • salt, and black pepper, to taste
  • 1 lb of mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • additional mozzarella for topping
  • Oil for frying (Olive oil preferred)
  • basic marinara sauce

Directions:

Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper. First dip eggplant into flour, then egg, and then the breadcrumb mixture. Fry* in heated oil, until a light golden brown. While cooking the eggplant, line an oven save pan with marinara, then stack eggplant, mozzarella, and sauce, one layer at a time. Once complete, bake at 400º for approximately 25 minutes. Topp with additional cheese (grated, and or mozzarella), if desired. Serve hot with your favorite pasta dish.

*Can also bake at 400, instead of frying

Pan Seared Ginger Chuck Roast

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Ingredients:

  • 2 pound Beef Chuck Roast
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger, chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, smashed, or chopped
  • 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons of Soy Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of Hoisin Sauce
  • 1/8 of a cup of Honey Barbecue Sauce
  • 3 cups of stock (Chicken, or Beef)
  • Ghee for frying
  • Salt, and pepper

Pat dry the chuck roast, season each side with salt and pepper, then dredge in seasoned flour. Using the Ghee, pan sear the chuck roast in a medium sized sauce pan.

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Allow roast to brown on all sides, then put in deep baking dish. In the same pan, sauté the onions until slightly translucent, then add in ginger, cook for about another minute. Add equal parts ghee, and flour to make a roux. Once brown, add in stock, garlic, soy, hoisin, and bbq sauces. Once combined, take mixture and pour over the roast in the baking dish. Liquid should cover about half the roast. If not, add more stock. Set pan aside, you’ll use it again. Cover with oven safe lid, or foil. Bake for 65 minutes, flipping roast, and turning pan once.

Pull roast from baking dish, and place on cutting board. While allowing meat to rest, pour juices into the sauté pan used earlier. Over medium to medium high heat, allow to drippings to reduce. Cook for about 10 minutes, allowing mixture to thicken. Slice beef thin, against the grain. Serve hot. Basting juices over meat slices.

Pairs well over ginger rice, and steamed vegetables, or coconut rice with green beans.

Farfalle (Bowtie pasta) Vegetable Alfredo Sauce

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Ingredients:

  • 1/2 an onion, chopped
  • 1 cup of half and half
  • 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock
  • 1/8 cup of sweet white wine sweet
  • 1 teaspoon of onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 1 tablespoon of flour
  • 1 16 ounce package of mixed veg, cooked
  • Parmigiano Reggiano (grated cheese)
  • Olive oil for frying
  • Salt, and white pepper

Directions:

In a medium sided pan, sauté onion in oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once caramelized, add butter, and flour to create a roux. Allow flour mixture to cook for about 30-45 seconds. Add in wine, allow alcohol to burn off. Then add in stock, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and half and half. Reduce heat, allow sauce to reduce, stirring occasionally. Be sure to not burn the sauce. Once thick, season to taste. Remember the cheese will contains salt. Once thick, toss in al dente pasta, mixed veg, and grated cheese. Serve hot. Top with shaved cheese.

Serves 8

Ginger Rice

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Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of medium grain white rice
  • 2 cups of chicken stock
  • 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger, chopped (sub 1 teaspoon of dry ginger)
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon of parsley
  • Oil, or butter for frying
  • Salt, and Pepper

In a medium sauce pan, sauté onion until caramelized, add rice, ginger, and parsley. Season with salt, and pepper, then add stock. Simmer on low, covered for 10 minutes, or until the liquid has cooked off. Serve hot.

Chicken Francese

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INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 lb. chicken cutlets
  • 1/4 cup of flour, seasoned
  • 3 eggs, seasoned, and beaten
  • 1 cup of chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup of semi sweet wine (I used a Pinot Grigio from Aldi)
  • 1 stick of butter
  • Fresh lemons (about 1/2 a lemon for every three cutlets)
  • Salt, black pepper, and white pepper

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium sided bowl beat eggs, and buttermilk together. Season with salt, and black pepper. Set aside. Place flour in a separate bowl. Season with salt, and black pepper.

Butterfly, and pound cutlets to achieve an even constancy. Dredge cutlets in the seasoned flour mixture, and then egg. Sauté cutlets in large pan starting with a teaspoon of butter, on low/medium heat. Lightly brown on each side. Add butter as needed to cook all cutlets. Once all cutlets are browned, add more butter, and two table spoons of butter. Raise heat, and mix it well. Don’t burn it. Allow roux to thicken, and add white wine. Once the wine cooks off, add stock, and then the chicken back to pan. Add lemon. Simmer for about five minutes, rotating cutlets, until chicken is softened. Season to taste with salt, and white pepper. Serve immediately.

Osso Buco (Braised Veal Shanks)

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Ingredients:

  • 8-10 large 1 1/2″ thick veal shanks, rinsed, and patted dry
  • All purpose flour (for dredging)
  • 7 tablespoons of butter
  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups of dry white wine
  • 1 1/2 cups of finely chopped onions
  • 3/4 of a cup of finely chopped carrots
  • 3/4 of a cup of finely chopped celery
  • 1 teaspoon of minced garlic (fresh, not jarred)
  • 3 1/2 cups of broth (beef, or chicken)
  • 1 1/2 cups of peeled, seeded, and chopped tomato (alt 1 1/2 cups of canned plum tomatoes, drained, chopped)
  • Cheesecloth bag with 6 fresh parsley sprigs, 4 fresh thyme sprigs, and 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt

For the Gremolata

  • 1/2 cup of minced fresh flat leafed parsley leaves
  • 2 tablespoons of freshly grated lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon of minced garlic

Season the shanks with salt, and pepper. Dredge them in seasoned flour, be sure to shake off any excess flour. In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of the butter, and 3 tablespoons of the oil over medium/medium high heat. Brown shanks in small batches. Add in additional butter, and oil, as needed. Place the browned shanks (one layer) in a large, deep, ovenproof casserole/banking pan.

Preheat over to 325º F.

In the same skillet, cook the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter on low heat. Stir occasionally, until the veggies are soft. Create a roux with equal parts fat, and flour. Cook for approx 30 seconds, or until brown while scraping the bottom, and sides of the pan. Add wine, allow to boil, and cook off the alcohol. Continue to scrape, and stir to prevent burning, combine with some of the broth. Pour mixture over browned shanks. Add additional broth which should almost cover the shanks. Spread tomato over shanks, add in the cheesecloth bag. Cover shanks, and place in oven for about 2 hours, or until the veal is tender. Basting, flipping, and rotating as needed.

Remove the shanks from the broth. Keep warm. Discard the cheese cloth bag.

Skim any fat, then put the broth back into sauté pan, make sure you have all the pan drippings. That is where all the flavor is. Bring mixture to boil, allowing to reduce for about 15 minutes. Season with salt, and pepper, as needed.

Baste shanks with reduction. Place back in the over, continue to baste. Bake them for another 10 minutes, or until the shanks are glazed.

Serve with veg, and a starch. See sides page for some great pairing ideas.

Chicken Gabriel: Oven Baked Chicken Breast with Mozzarella and Prosciutto

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Ingredients:

Directions:

Butterfly chicken breast using a sharp filet knife. This can be done from frozen, and likely can make 3 cutlets from each breast. Lightly pound cutlets, to equal thickness. Doing so will cook the chicken evenly. Once completed, place on a baking pan, in a single layer, and set aside.

In a skillet, sauté onion in olive oil, then add shallot. When golden brown, add butter, and flour. Once thick, add stock, and allow to reduce for a few minutes. Season to taste.

Preheat oven to 400º. Lightly season each cutlet, top with a slice of prosciutto, and then cheese. Add stock reduction, then bake for about 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Serves 5-6

Side pairing ideas: Roasted garlic & rosemary potatoes. Sautéed green beans. See sides page for more info.

And a 1 click grocery list can be easily accessed here!

Delicious Italian Sausage Risotto Recipe

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Ingredients:

Over medium heat, melt butter in sauté pan, add onions, and sausage (sliding out of casing, in small clumps). Cook until lightly brown. Add in mushrooms, allow them to brown. Add rice, and then wine, stir. Season with salt and pepper, allow wine to cook off. Add water, and stock, then stir. Lower heat, place lid on pan. Stirring occasional. Add in grated cheese once liquid is almost gone. Season to taste.

Garnish with more grated cheese, and enjoy while hot.

Vegan option:

  • Omit cheese
  • Sub sausage with meatless meat (I understand that Trader Joe’s Beef-less Ground Beef is very good)
  • Sub chicken stock with vegetable stock
  • Sub butter with olive oil.

Risotto dishes often are the start of the show. However, even thought they make for a great entrée, they can also be an incredible side dish!

An easy grocery list for the ingredients can be accessed here.