Mushroom Stroganoff

Growing up my mom made beef stroganoff and although I was picker than I'd like to admit (what kid likes pizza, but not spaghetti or lasagna? I was even a hard sell on hamburgers... unless they were cut in quarters) I really liked it. So when Chuck had the idea for stroganoff using the leftover lamb chops I was excited for him to come over and get cooking!  He found such great mushrooms at the store that he decided to not use the lamb in the dish.  Instead we ate the lamb chops cold and straight off the bone while he was cooking!

The end product could be vegetarian with substituting the beef broth with vegetable broth.  The mushrooms provided plenty of meatiness, even for Chuck who thinks a meal isn't a meal without meat.

Mushroom Stroganoff

Ingredients

     12 oz. Egg Noodles
     3         Portobello mushrooms, sliced
     8 oz    Shitake mushrooms, sliced
     1         Shallot, diced
     1/4 c.  Butter
     2 T      Flour
     15 oz.  Beef Broth, low sodium
     1/4 c.   Plain Greek Yogurt
     1/4 c.   Sour cream
     3 oz.    Goat cheese
                 Kosher salt
                 Fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
     
     1:     Heat butter in a large pan until melted and add the diced shallot with 1t black pepper 
                    and a pinch of salt.

  
     2:     Once the shallot is soft, add the portobello mushrooms and a pinch of salt and 
                    pepper. The mushrooms will start to sweat and that's when to add the shitakes 
                    and the flour.  Keep the ingredients in the pan moving a little to allow the flour to                      coat everything.

 

     3:     Get your salted pasta water boiling and cook the pasta until al dente.
     4:     Cook for about 2 minutes after the flour is completely absorbed and add the beef 
                    broth. Allow to simmer for a bit and once it has thickened a little, add the goat 
                    cheese, Greek yogurt, and sour cream.  Add another teaspoon of pepper and a 
                    pinch of salt.

 

  
     5:     Allow to simmer and thicken for a few minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.
     6:     Stir in the pasta and parsley. Serve!

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

I know I've said this about the last two chickens we have roasted, but this is some of the best chicken I've ever tasted. Really.

As if the lamb chops on Friday didn't do it for you, this was dinner Saturday.  It was a beautiful day, around 60 degrees and sunny, and chicken on the grill was the perfect dinner. All week Chuck and I had browsed Jamaican Jerk rub recipes and after getting a good idea of what it entailed and what he wanted, he whipped up the rub/marinade Friday night and let it sit in the fridge over night.  The result was the perfect combination of flavors.


Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Ingredients:

        1         Whole Chicken

        Rub:
           2 t     Ground Allspice
           2 t     Dried Thyme
           2 t     Ground Nutmeg
           2 t     Ground Cinnamon
           2 t     Fresh Ginger
           2 T    Brown Sugar
           1/4 c. Tequila
           1/2 c. Cider vinegar
           1/4 c. Soy Sauce
           1/4 c. Lime juice
           1/4 c. Orange juice
           2        Fresh red chilis
           2        Shallots
           2        Garlic cloves
           Handful of cilantro
           1        Habenero pepper

Directions:

     1:     Blend together all ingredients for the rub.  Refrigerate overnight.

      2:     Clean chicken and remove the back bone.  Once the back bone has been removed, 
                     split chicken along the breast bone.

 

     3:     Cut a small hole in the skin near the end of the leg and tuck the leg into the hole.

 

Sanitize everything as often as you can during these steps.  Don't want to get sick!  I think Chuck sanitized the counters, cutting boards, sink, faucet handle, and doorknob to the pantry (where the trash is) 3 or 4 separate times during this process.

      4:     Place chicken in a large resealable bag and add marinade, rubbing to coat.  
                    Refrigerate for no more than 2 hours. Tip from Chuck:  You don't want to leave 
                    this marinade on the meat for longer than a couple of hours before cooking 
                    because its high acidity will start to cook the meat.  This is the way ceviche is 
                    cooked.

 

     5:     Remove from fridge and let rest at room temperature for 30-45 minutes.

     6:     Heat up the grill and place the chicken skin side down for 5-10 minutes to allow a 
                         nice sear.

     7:     Flip the chicken over and place over indirect hear at 450 degrees for 90 minutes or 
                         until thigh temperature reads 165 degrees and the juices run clear.

     8:     Remove from the grill and let rest under tented tin foil for 5-10 minutes before 
                          serving.

Chuck placed an entire half chicken on his plate.  Since I didn't want that much, he started to carve mine and the chicken literally fell apart.  It was cooked perfectly. 

With the chicken we had a sliced baked potato topped with garlic chive aioli.  If your mouth isn't watering yet you might want to get checked.

Sliced Grilled Potato with Lemon Garlic &
             Chive Aioli

Ingredients:   
   
          1     Russet potato
          2 T  Butter
                 Salad Supreme seasoning
                 Kosher salt
                 Pepper

          Lemon, Garlic and Chive Aioli
               2 c.      Plain Greek yogurt
               1          Garlic clove
               2 T       Chopped chives
               1           Lemon zested, and half of it juiced
               2 T       Chopped fresh parsley
               2 T       Dijon mustard

Directions:

     1:     Stir together all of the aioli ingredients together and refrigerate.

     2:     Incompletely slice the potato into 1/2" pieces (don't slice all of the way through)

     3:     Add some butter between each of the slices and top with a sprinkling of Salad 
                      Supreme, salt, and pepper.

     4:     Wrap with aluminum foil and place on the grill over indirect heat for 90 minutes.

     5:     Remove from grill, remove foil, and serve with aioli as your topping.

We did have some greens with this.  Thinly sliced English cucmbers tossed in apple cider vinegar sprinkled with salt and pepper.  Put this in the fridge, covered as you cook everything else and it's a great, light side dish!

The leftover aioli has been versatile and delicious.  Monday night we used it for a dip with potato chips and I used it on my BLT instead of mayo.  Tuesday I shredded some of the leftover chicken, added a strip of bacon pieces (left over from BLTs), and stirred in the aioli for an open faced chicken salad sandwich.

Italian Pork Chops and Penne Pasta with Vodka Sauce

Quite the weekend of food!  Lamb chops Friday, Jamaican Jerk chicken Saturday, and Italian pork chops and penne in vodka sauce Sunday. Yum.

My mom called last week planning to make pork chops and needing an idea.  This meal was one of the ones that really wowed me when Chuck first made it in November.  I had the recipe, but didn't have any pictures to accompany it and show how great it turned out!  I quickly typed it up and sent it to my mom.  She and my dad loved the result.  She shared the idea with her friends who are going to be trying this trick with a bunch of different proteins.

Italian Pork Chops

Ingredients:

           2          Pork chops (this time we used a pork tenderloin cut into 1/2" medallions)
           1/2 c.   Grated Parmesan cheese
           2          Eggs
           1 c.      Italian bread crumbs
                       Kosher salt
                       Freshly grated black pepper
                      Olive oil - it's important to use quality olive oil in this recipe

Directions:

     1:     Prep your pork.  If you're using the tenderloin to make medallions it's easier to cut 
                       them uniformly if it's a little frozen.  Stick it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes 
                       before slicing if it's completely thawed.  

     2:     Put Parmesan in a dish that will work for coating the pork, add a pinch of salt and 
                 pepper, and mix together.
     3:     In a second, similar dish, beat the eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper. Tip from 
                 Chuck: You can add a splash of cream to this bowl too.
     4:     In a third bowl, mix the bread crumbs with a pinch of salt and pepper.

     5:     Lightly salt and pepper each piece of pork. Coat each piece of pork in the Parmesan 
                   mix, followed by the egg, and lastly the bread crumbs.  Place in the fridge for 20 
                   minutes, then allow to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

 

     6:     Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Heat olive oil in a skillet to medium heat and brown 
                 each side of the pork chop. Browning time will depend on the thickness of the 
                 pork, the full chops were about 5 minutes each side, the medallions didn't take as 
                 long. 

  
     7:     Put them in the oven for 5-10 more minutes, or until the meat thermometer reads 
                 145-150.  Remove from the oven and let rest a few minutes before serving.



Penne Pasta with Vodka Sauce

Ingredients:

     1 lb.                      Penne pasta
     4                           Strips of bacon, diced, optional, you can use pancetta also
                                      If you don't use bacon or pancetta, you'll need about 2 T olive oil
     1/2                        Yellow onion, diced
     2                           Garlic cloves, minced
     1 T                        Crushed red pepper flakes
     2 (15 oz.) cans   Diced tomatoes, drained
     2 T                       Tomato paste
     5                           Fresh basil leaves, chopped
     1 T                        Sugar (double if you don't use bacon or pancetta)
     1/2-3/4 c.           Vodka, you can substitute white wine or dry vermouth
     2/3 c.                   Heavy cream
     1/4 c.                   Grated Parmesan

Directions:

     1:     Crisp bacon in a pot over medium/high heat.  Once it's nice and crispy, remove the 
                    bacon from the pot and set aside, leaving the drippings.  If you skip the bacon, 
                    simply heat the olive oil to medium heat in the pot.

     2:     Add the onion to the drippings/olive oil with a pinch of salt, pepper, and the crushed 
                    red pepper flakes.  Allow to sweat for a few minutes and get soft.

     3:     Add the garlic and allow to cook for about a minute before adding the diced 
                     tomatoes.  Let simmer for about 5 minutes to get rid of excessive moisture.

     4:     Add the tomato paste and sugar and let cook for a couple of minutes, then add 
                      vodka.  After that simmers for a couple of minutes add another pinch of salt and 
                      pepper.
     5:     Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook your pasta until al dente.
     6:     Stir in the basil and add the heavy cream to the sauce to tighten it.
     7:     Add the bacon, a large pinch of parmesan cheese (if you want) and sauce to the pasta 
                      and toss together.

For a salad, Chuck threw together a quick Caesar.  We got the dressing recipe from his dad and use it all the time!

Caesar Dressing

Ingredients:

     2 T     Grey Poupon
     2 T     Mayo
     Splash Worcestershire sauce
     2 T     Grated Parmesan cheese
     1/2      Lemon, juiced
     2 squirts Anchovy paste 
     Drizzle of olive oil

Directions:

     Put all ingredients in food processor and blend together. Easy, huh?