Monday, November 8, 2010

Red Wine, Pork and Tomato Sauce over Rosemary Garlic Linguine

First of all, being Lady T's guest blogger is not an easy task. I'm usually more of a sous chef, while she is not only a great cook (I've experienced this first hand) but also somewhat of a restaurant connoisseur! So I'm a bit nervous but someone had to take over while Lady T gets some much needed R & R! So here goes...

While visiting Pike Place Market in Seattle, Mr. K and I discovered a really interesting pasta vendor, selling dozens of flavored pastas and sauces, including chocolate flavored pasta (not a personal favorite, but Mr. K seemed to like it). The pasta is from "Pappardelle's, the Fine Art of Pasta" and one of the pastas we purchased was Rosemary Garlic Linguine. It came with a recommended recipe, which made for a delightful meal:

1 lb. Rosemary Garlic Linguine
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 lbs. pork spareribs, trim fat (we used pork chops instead - for those non-pork eaters, chicken or turkey are great substitutes!)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup red wine
1- 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, drained, juice reserved, tomatoes chopped fine
2 1/2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
Sea Salt
Freshly ground black pepper



1. Chop meat up into pieces, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat, add meat and brown on all sides, about 5-8 minutes.
2. Drain fat, remove meat to plate. Add garlic, rosemary, and wine to skillet, simmer, about 2 minutes. Return meat to skillet, add tomatoes and reserved juice (we used a can of chopped tomatoes with juice reserved).

3. Bring to boil, reduce to low, cover, and let simmer. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.


*Side note - its always nice to cook (Italian or any food) while enjoying a nice glass of red wine and cheese - in this case Colby Jack.

4. In a separate pan, cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente (about 5-8 minutes). Drain.


5. To serve, toss sauce with drained pasta.

*This isn't part of the recipe, but Mr. I was nice enough to make a side of garlic bread - his instructions are as follows: in a frying pan, heat up some oil, add minced garlic. Add salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, oregeno to taste, simmer. Brush mixture onto bread. Toast bread in oven for 2-3 minutes.

Finito!!

As Lady T would say..... Hungry yet?

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Out of Office

If you've been reading lately, you probably noticed  my delayed and irregular posting the last couple of weeks.  Partly work related but also life related.  Thankfully, I'm on vacation this week. FIN-A-LLY!


I do not plan to post this week, but stranger things have happened.  The lovely Ms. S has agreed to step in as a guest blogger for the week.  She has only promised one recipe post but I'm hoping she'll surprise me (and you) with a few more posts.

I expect to eat lots of delicious meals this week and look forward to sharing with you when I return.

In the mean time, click around to find a restaurant, or try a recipe.

Hungry yet?

Bruschetta

I may have shared this recipe before, but I could also be making that up.  Bruschetta is one of my favorite appetizers.  So incredibly easy to make and definitely a crowd pleaser.

3 fresh plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried basil or 3 leaves fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp balsamic vinaigrette 
salt and black pepper to taste
1 loaf italian bread, sliced

In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, one chopped garlic clove and basil.  

Mix together until combined.  Add balsamic vinaigrette, salt and pepper.  Cover and chill for at least 15 minutes.


While the tomato mixture is in the fridge, heat bread in oven about 5 minutes until toasted.  Remove from oven and rub remaining garlic clove on slices of bread.  

Top each piece of bread with tomato mixture and plate for your guests to enjoy!


Hungry yet?

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Stir Fry Broccoli with Garlic

Still working on posting all the dinner party recipes.  Here's a quick one for a side of Stir Fry Broccoli with garlic.
 
3 heads of broccoli
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbs olive oil

Cut the broccoli into small pieces but maintaining florets.


In a large frying pan or wok heat the oil.  Add garlic and cook until soft but not brown.  Add broccoli and toss for about 5 minutes.
 

Broccoli will turn bright green and remain crunchy but cooked. YUM!

 
Hungry yet?

Thursday, November 4, 2010

BBQ Chicken Wings

I'm still slowly sharing recipes from the dinner party.  It's been quite the hectic week so not only have I barely eaten, I definitely haven't had time to post!  I already wrote a couple of the entries it's just a matter of finding time to post them.  Anyway, here's the recipe for the magnificent BBQ Chicken Wings.


12 wing parts
½ cup BBQ sauce
2 tbs Siracha
¼ cup onions sliced
1 ½ tbs salt
2 tbs black pepper
2 tsp chili powder
 
Usually when I make wings, I buy the whole wing then cut into parts.  This time I was in a bit of a rush so I just bought a perdue wing parts 12 pack.  I like to let the flavors marinate for a while so I usually mix everything in a ziploc bag.  I dumped in the wings, then the BBQ sauce, squirt some siracha in there add the rest of the ingredients then close up the bag and shake it up.  


Make sure the chicken is well coated.  Then refrigerate for at least half an hour but no more than 24 hours.
 
After that I dump everything into a baking pan and put it in the oven at 375 degrees for 40 minutes if it's a tight squeeze in the pan, 30 if spacious.  

I like to pour the extra BBQ sauce mix from the bag over the chicken about 15 minutes into baking.
 
This is one of my favorite entertaining appetizers.  Easy to make and very little clean up.

Hungry yet?