Eggs with Sugo (previously Sougle)

Okay, okay, I don't know how to spell sougle. (Note: I was corrected by someone who actually speaks Italian. Sugo=Sauce) You know what else I don't know how to do? Poach eggs. Turns out that's something you need to know to make eggs with sougle. If you also don't know how to poach eggs, you should look up instructions. That's what I'll be doing next time! Anyway, eggs with sougle always sounded gross to me when Kevin told me about it, but then his mom made it for us one day and it turns out I was totally wrong and it's really tasty. I served it with cheesy polenta, but it's also delicious with a big hunk of bread.


Eggs with Sougle
olive oil
1/2 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tblsp tomato paste mixed with half can water
basil
oregano
red pepper
Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute for 3 minutes. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste/water mixture, and spices to taste. Bring sauce to simmer. Poach eggs. Let sauce reduce slightly.


Cheesy Polenta
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 cup polenta
1 tblsp butter
1/2 cup asiago cheese
Cook polenta according to package directions - Mine called for boiling water and salt, adding polenta, and cooking for five minutes. Stir in butter and cheese.


Serve two eggs per person over polenta and topped with sauce.

Braised Calamari

A month and a half after New Year's Eve, I finally got around to cooking New Year's Eve dinner. For those of you with small kitchens like mine, I would suggest having a plan before you start. I didn't and it took a bit of effort to keep the raw shrimp away from things that shouldn't have raw shrimp on them. This ended up being just about the messiest thing I've ever made in the kitchen. Luckily, it also ended up being totally delicious! The recipe is a modified version of Anne Burrell's.


Braised Calamari
olive oil
1 large onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, diced
28 oz can diced tomato
crushed red pepper
garlic powder
onion powder
dried basil
1/2 lb shrimp, cleaned and chopped
1 lb calamari
1 red pepper, chopped fine
3 handfuls spinach, chopped
2 eggs
breadcrumbs
In a large saute pan, sweat onions and 3 cloves chopped garlic in olive oil. Add diced tomato, red pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried basil to taste. Simmer sauce while you make calamari. Let's start by saying that you should really look for nice big calamari. The calamari I got was a little on the small side. That'll teach me to inspect the calamari before I buy it next time. In a food processor, combine shrimp and a handful of chopped calamari until it comes together as a paste. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl. Add red pepper, spinach, eggs, breadcrumbs, 3 cloves chopped garlic, and a generous pinch of crushed red pepper. Check sauce. You might need to add a little water if it has reduced too much. Transfer mixture to a ziploc bag (or a pastry bag if you're fancier than me). Cut corner off ziploc bag. Stuff each calamari and place in sauce. Cover and cook for 12 minutes. Flip calamari, cover, and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Remove calamari and crank up the heat on the sauce so that it reduces and thickens a bit. Serve calamari topped with sauce.

Portabello Mushroom Sandwich

After a couple of tries, Kevin and I successfully had our first Meatless Monday today! For dinner, we revisited an old favorite - portabello mushroom sandwiches. This is a variation of a recipe Kevin saw on The Naked Chef years ago. It's super simple and delicious! Kevin made string beans with olive oil for a side. 


Portabello Mushroom Sandwiches
1/2 stick butter, softened
1/2 jalapeno, chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed
small handful chopped onions
3 portabello mushrooms 
cheddar cheese
bread (I used a whole wheat/spelt bread I made the night before)
Alright, so here's the thing. I would suggest making the butter the night before, but I've also made it immediately before cooking the mushrooms. If you make it in advance, you can be all super fancy and shape the butter into a roll and wrap it in plastic wrap. Personally, I think this is only worth it if you're going to do a whole stick and keep it around for a bit. If you're just making enough for your mushrooms, throw it in the fridge in whatever is handy. That being said, throw the butter, jalapeno, garlic, and onions in a small food processor. Mix it until evenly distributed. Package as you see fit if you made it in advance and bring it up to room temperature before you cook the mushrooms.


Lay three mushroom caps on broiler pan. Top with a generous dollop of the compound butter. Place under the broiler until the butter begins to melt. Top with cheddar cheese. Place under broiler until cheese is golden brown. Serve open face on a piece of delicious bread.

Grilled Chicken with Mango Salsa

I thought of my dad the entire time I was cooking this meal. He used to love making fun of Bobby Flay and his need to make mango chutney with every meal. I always thought it sounded delicious. I was right. This is the first time I've taken a stab at making a mango salsa myself though. I served this with a side of peas, which probably isn't the best choice of sides, but yo! I love peas!

Grilled Chicken with Mango Salsa

1 package chicken

salt and pepper

garlic powder

onion powder

cumin

1 mango, cubed

1/3 English cucumber, diced

1/4 red onion, diced

1/2 jalapeno, diced

juice of one lime

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1/3 cup plain yogurt

Over medium high heat, heat a grill pan. Generously season both sides of chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin and grill. In a bowl, mix mango, cucumber, onion, jalapeno, lime juice, and one large handful of chopped cilantro. (I would suggest making this in advance and letting it come together in the fridge for a while.) In a small blender, mix together the yogurt and remaining cilantro. It will get pretty thin. Serve chicken topped with a generous amount of mango salsa and a spoonful of cilantro yogurt drizzled on top.

Ham Casserole

Ahh, the snowstorms continue... Being cold and stranded makes me want to fire up the oven so I cracked open a casserole cookbook. This recipe is inspired by the Ham and Broccoli Casserole in Bake Until Bubbly. I served this with a baked potato on the side. Next time I will incorporate the potato into the casserole. It was very tasty when I got a little bit of everything on my fork at once.


Ham Casserole
1 stalk broccoli, florets and stems, cut into 1" chunks
3 carrots, sliced
3 tblsp butter
3 tblsp flour
1 heaping tblsp course ground mustard
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup shredded cheese (I used a mix of cheddar and baby swiss)
ham steak, cubed
handful breadcrumbs
Steam broccoli and carrots until al dente. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium high. Add flour and mustard and stir to combine. Let the roux cook for a minute. Add milk and stir over medium low heat until sauce thickens. Add cheese and stir until melted. In a casserole dish, mix broccoli, carrots, and ham cubes until evenly distributed. Add cheese sauce and stir to combine.Top with breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. 

Chicken with Horseradish Sauce

This recipe was inspired by a Rachel Ray recipe from 365: No Repeats. Without her, I would not use horseradish or mustard nearly as much as I do. Excellent stuff. Her version is a cream sauce, but I'm not crazy about cream sauces, so I scrapped that part. I served it with couscous and edamame, but it would be delicious with noodles, potatoes, anything that can soak up the sauce.

Chicken with Horseradish Sauce
olive oil

1 package chicken breast

1 onion

2 carrots

2 tblsp prepared horseradish

1 tblsp AP flour

2 cups chicken stock or broth

1 tblsp course ground mustard

salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Cook in olive oil for 5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken and cover. In the same pan, add onions, carrots, and horseradish. Cook until lightly browned. Add flour and cook for one minute. Add stock and mustard. Stir well and let sauce thicken. Return chicken to pan to warm while sauce thickens. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Pancakes

Drat! I ran out of pancake mix on a snow day forcing me to find another recipe for homemade pancakes. Honestly, I know it's not in fitting with all the other stuff I insist on making from scratch, but I prefer the mix (Trader Joe's Multigrain Pancake Mix ROCKS). You know why? Because every recipe I've tried for making them from scratch seems to involve me beating eggs until my arm falls off or includes way too many ingredients for my liking. So, this morning, I went looking for something easy, something basic. What I found was a Food Network recipe from How to Boil Water. I made a few changes since I'm a fan of using whole wheat flour and lowering the amount of sugar in recipes whenever possible. The resulting mix was delicious and I'm thinking it might replace the box.


Whole Wheat Pancakes
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tblsp baking powder
1 tblsp brown sugar
grated fresh nutmeg (To your taste. I didn't put in nearly enough for my taste in this batch.)
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup whole milk
1 banana, mashed with a fork


Mix flours, baking powder, sugar, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix eggs and milk. Combine bowls and mix until batter forms. Add banana and mix to incorporate. You know the drill from here - cook the pancakes over medium to medium high heat until they're whatever beautiful color you like.

Boeuf Bourguignon

Everyone go grab your copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, turn to page 315, and start cooking. Quick, quick like a bunny. 

Okay, I'm not going to repost the recipe since I followed Julia Child's pretty closely and I'm not going to get all Julie and Julia on you, but you should absolutely try this recipe (unless you're someone who doesn't like to spend an entire afternoon cooking). It was a truly delicious meal and one that warms you (and your house) on a snowy winter day. 


Here's my 2 cents on the recipe. 1) It wins the "Weirdest Thing I've Ever Done with Bacon" award for simmering bacon in water. I have to assume the goal was to reduce the saltiness or the fat. Whatever it was, it was really weird to drop bacon into water. 2) It also wins the "Best Smell Ever Encountered While Cooking" award for the delicious aromas that are released when the carrots and onions hit the bacon and beef fat. Holy cow! I wanted to bathe in the carrots and onions. 3) The recipe actually includes two additional recipes for Brown Braised Onions (pg 483) and Mushrooms Sauteed in Butter (pg 513). The onions almost didn't make it to the master recipe because I was so tempted just to eat them all in the kitchen by myself without telling my husband about them. It's like French Onion soup, but just in delicious bite size onions. This is a side dish that will reappear in our dinners. 


So, abandon your diets for a night, go find a farm (Springfield Farms is an excellent choice if you're in the Baltimore area), get a nice chunk of chuck roast, grab two bottles of wine, and get cooking!