Braised Spareribs in Merlot Sauce
Posted by: Susan on: May 2, 2010
- In: Pork Dishes | Sauces
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This is one of my all time favorite recipes and again, it’s one that is best made with a cast iron pan or dutch oven. I’ve made this recipe on several occasions and if you were coming to my house for dinner (especially during the winter months) this would probably be a dish that I would prepare for you. The nice thing about this dish is that you make it and then bake it for 90 minutes to 2 hours and while it’s baking, it leaves you time to clean up and work on your side dishes. When your guests arrive, your house smells good with all the flavors that are melding together in the cast iron pan. Once served, the meat is fork tender and melts in your mouth.
Directions:
Makes 6 servings. position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 Degrees.
3 pounds country-style pork spareribs
Salt and pepper
Merlot Sauce:
1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 can (14.5 ounces each) Muir Glen fire-roasted crushed tomatoes or regular crushed tomatoes (drain off excess liquid)
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup Merlot or other full-bodied red wine
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
To prepare the ribs, rinse them, pat dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Place a 12 inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat; add the ribs, fat side down. Cook, turning once until browned on all sides, 2-3 minutes. Transfer the ribs to a plate and drain reserving all but 2 Tablespoons fat from the skillet.
To prepare the sauce, turn down the heat to medium-low, add the onions to the skillet, and cook, stirring occasionally until they start to soften about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, brown sugar, red wine, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
Turn the heat up to medium and bring the sauce to a boil. Return the spareribs to the skillet pushing them down gently to submerge. Protecting both hands with oven mitts, cover tightly with foil. The liquid will reduce while cooking, leaving a rich, flavorful sauce. With the oven mitts, carefully place the skillet in the middle of the oven and bake until the meat breaks apart easily with a fork – about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
**COOKS NOTE: The first couple times I made this I used my 12 inch cast iron pan. The last time I made this I served 6 people and made it in my dutch oven which was just as round, but also higher on the sides. I used a good balsamic that was over 10 years of age. There is a difference in the balsamic vinegars that you buy and use and depending on the age of the balsamic depends on if yours will be acidic or smooth. The smooth flavors of a good balsamic from a specialty store or Italian Market make all the difference in how the flavors meld together. I don’t always use a Merlot, since I don’t have too many on my wine rack. I tend to use a full-bodied Cabernet or Zin.
This dish can be served with Corn Casserole (which I’ll also post), corn on the cob, herbed polenta or mashed potatoes – whatever you like. And, I also served a caprese salad, but a tossed one works just as well. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do and let me know if you’d like to join us for dinner!**
Bon Appetit!
Grandma Hoole’s Country Style Ribs
Posted by: Susan on: May 2, 2010
- In: Pork Dishes | Sauces
- 2 Comments
Here is another recipe that I’ve had since the 1980′s and have never made. This is a recipe that my grandmother, Elinor Hoole gave me. I always thought it looked great, but just never made it until last week. I have 2 great recipes for Country Style ribs and they will be posted one right after the other. This recipe calls for vinegar to be added and for a minute I had to stop and ask myself, what type of vinegar my grandmother would have used – would she have used a white wine or red wine vinegar – or would she have used balsamic? Did they even have Balsamic Vinegar back in her day? Considering I got this recipe in the late 1970′s – early 1980′s – she probably would have made this in the 1950 – 1960′s and I don’t think that Balsamic Vinegar was on her list of staples in her pantry as it is with mine. So, being the cook that I am now, I chose Balsamic for its rich flavors and it was a great choice. Her recipe is more of a BBQ type vinegar sauce – something that would be on a good North Carolina pulled pork sandwich - I could see myself using her recipe with white or red wine vinegar on Pork Shoulder to make pulled pork sandwiches – does anyone have a great coleslaw recipe?
Directions:
1-/2 – 2 lbs of country style ribs (approximately 4-5 ribs)
1/2 cup sliced onions
1/2 cup catsup
1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp dry yellow mustard
Arrange ribs in shallow pan. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Drain and continue cooking 30 minutes longer.
While ribs are cooking, add all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to boil. Have sauce warm and ready to use on the ribs once they’ve cooked 60 minutes. Baste the ribs with the sauce for the remaining 30 minutes. Just before serving pour the remainder of sauce over the ribs.
Serve with tater tots, french fries or hash browns, a green salad, chocolate cake or chocolate chip cookies (I think my grandmother had a sweet tooth).
**COOKS NOTE: I did bake the ribs for 90 minutes and then pulled the ribs out and poured the sauce in it’s entirety over the ribs. I also doubled the batch of “sauce” as I found that if I did not double it I wouldn’t have enough of the sauce to cover the ribs. What I think would have been even better is to have cooked the ribs WITH the sauce for 90 minutes so that it had a chance to soak up all the good flavors of the sauce. I think that Sweet Potato fries would have gone really well with this recipe – but I could not find them anywhere. I’m sure one of the grocery stores carries them and if not, I’ll have to find a recipe for them and make my own.**
Bon Appetit!
California Casserole
Posted by: Susan on: May 2, 2010
This is one of those family recipes that I’ve been collecting and I decided that it looked good and would make it. It was quick and easy to make and I’m really surprised that I’ve never made this before. I decided to add chicken which gave it more substance.
Directions:
1/4 cup butter
1 cup chopped onion
4 cups *freshly cooked rice (* 1-1/3 cups uncooked rice)
2 cups sour cream
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 large bay leaf
1 cup cottage cheese
3 – 4 ounce cans chiles
chopped parsely
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Melt butter in skillet. Saute onions until golden brown. Remove from heat and stir in hot rice, sour cream, cottage cheese, bay leaf, salt, pepper and green chiles. Toss lightly. In a 9 x 13 x 2 dish, layer half of rice mixture in baking dish, sprinkle with half the cheddar cheese. Repeat layers, bake uncovered. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
**COOKS NOTE: I baked the chicken tenders/strips in the oven for 20 minutes at 350. First I salt/peppered them and then 0nce the chicken was baked, I left it cool and then diced the chicken and added it to the onion mixture and continued to cook for a few more minutes. At this point I added all the other ingredients as noted above. I chose not to add chopped parsley to the top and just left the top layer with the cheddar cheese. It was great for leftovers a few days later.
Bon Appetit!
Slow-roasted Beef Brisket with Apple cider-ginger barbecue sauce and carmelized sweet onions
Posted by: Susan on: March 16, 2010
This is another cast iron dish from my favorite cookbook! I know I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again how much I love cooking with cast iron. It’s easy to make and easy to clean up! I made this a few weeks ago and forgot to post it and my niece mentioned she was making beef brisket for St. Patty’s day, so I thought I would get this posted for her, and all of you! This is comfort food at its best! This dish is slow-simmered with a sweet and sour sauce that becomes very tender over time. Serves 4-6 people.
Directions:
1 beef brisket – 1 to 3 pounds
Apple Cider-Ginger Barbecue Sauce
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
Caramelized Onions
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more if needed
- 1/2 sweet yellow onion, cut into quarters, then thinly sliced crosswise
To prepare the barbecue sauce, place the brown sugar, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, garlic and ginger in a medium saucepan. Simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.
To prepare the onions, spread the olive oil evenly in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat, add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally until golden. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Turn up the heat to medium, add the brisket and cook turning once until seared on both sides about 5 minutes. You may need to add a bit more olive oil to keep the meat from sticking to the pan.
Remove the heat and spread the barbecue sauce evenly over the top of the meat. Sprinkle the cooked onions over the brisket, cover the skillet tightly with foil and bake until fork-tender, about 3 hours. To serve, cut crosswise into 1/2 inch slices.
**COOK’s NOTE: This is a really easy dish to make and I love caramelized onions. All the flavors were great. One thing that I left out was the ginger because I didn’t have any on hand, but it was just as good with the Apple cider barbecue sauce. If you make it with the ginger, let me know how it turns out! I was able to take 2 forks and pull the brisket apart. I added potatoes to the barbecue mixture once it had cooked 90 minutes. We ate it with just the shredded beef, potatoes and a salad. I think that it would be great on a french roll also!
Bon Appetit!
Crispy Parmesan Chicken Breasts
Posted by: Susan on: March 15, 2010
This recipe is so simple and has become another favorite of ours. It’s a meal that can be prepared in as much as 30 minutes. I sometimes enjoy this with marinara sauce, as it’s breaded, like Chicken Parmesan. I will typically make the marinara sauce on the side as Mike is not a big “sauce” fan. I know that you will enjoy this as much as we do!
Directions:
2-6 chicken breasts (determine # of chicken breasts that are needed)
1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese – grated
1/3 Cup dry bread crumbs (I use Italian)
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp melted butter.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter in microwave and place in rimmed dish. Mix cheese, bread crumbs and seasonings in shallow dish. (I use glass pie pans for the butter and dry mix)
Put chicken in butter and coat both sides. Then, put chicken in the cheese mixture coating again on both sides. Place in greased baking dish.
Bake for 20 minutes or until chicken is tender.
**COOKS NOTES: This is so easy to make. I typically use 2-3 breasts for 2 of us. I also use a bit more than the amounts listed depending on how much cheese/bread crumbs and paprika you like. When there is about 3-5 minutes left, I take the chicken out and put fresh grated parmesan cheese over the chicken to make cheese crisps. I typically serve with a salad, or green beans – but any veggie combination will work. It’s really moist and delicious**
Bon Appetit!
Beef Stroganoff
Posted by: Susan on: March 14, 2010
- In: Beef Dishes
- 1 Comment
I absolutely LOVE Beef Stroganoff! I remember when I was in my late 20′s there was this item you could buy at the grocery store – it was a jar of white creamy Stroganoff sauce. You combined the sauce with the ground beef you had cooked up. It was heavenly over my egg noodles. For awhile it was good and hit the spot, but then I found this recipe and will never go back to that or ground beef and cream of mushroom soup. I found this recipe in the 2007 Cooking Light magazine and have been cooking it ever since. This is a delicious recipe that I’m happy to share with you.
Directions:
1 pound boneless sirloin steak, trimmed
Cooking Spray
3 cups sliced cremini mushrooms (about 8 ounces)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup beef broth (fat free, less sodium is recommended)
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
4 cups hot cooked egg noodles (8 oz uncooked)
3 Tbsp minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
- Cut beef diagonally across the grain into 1/4 inch wide strips; cut the strips into 2 inch pieces.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add beef to pan; saute 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove beef from pan and place in a medium sized bowl and keep warm. Add mushrooms and onion to pan; saute 4 minutes. Add mushroom/onion mixture to beef.
- Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Add flour, cook 1 minute, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add broth, sitrring constantly. Cook 1 minute or until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly.
- Add beef mixture, sherry, salt and pepper to pan and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 4 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand 30 seconds. Stir in sour cream.
- Combine noodles and minced parsley. Serve beef mixture over noodles.
**COOKs NOTE: I typically use Baby Bella’s or Portabella mushrooms instead of Cremini Mushrooms. I like mushrooms so I use 2 pre-sliced bags or boxes,but use as much as you’d like. The dry sherry can be found in the wine section – make sure it is dry and not sweet or sherry that you would drink. This is primarily a cooking sherry. Also, even though I add 2 Tbsp flour it doesn’t always get really thick - so if you want additional thickness, use broth from the strogranoff that is hot and add 1 Tbsp more of flour to the mixture. I don’t always use reduced fat sour cream either. That would need to be your choice. It’s a great meal and tonight I had this with a salad. I’m sure you will enjoy dish as well!**
Bon Appetit!
Chicken with Herbed Dumplings
Posted by: Susan on: February 28, 2010
I love chicken & dumplings. Mike’s mom has been talking about how she makes them for her great-grandchildren when they come to visit and while I don’t have her recipe just yet, I found one that suited me perfectly and used many of my favorite ingredients to cook with and in. Plus, it’s really savory and loaded with great flavor – it uses more of my favorite ingredients like Cornmeal and fresh herbs. One of my favorite cookbooks is the “Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook.” I love it so much that I actually bought a cast iron skillet and this exact cookbook for one of my sisters…she’s loving it too! There are so many great recipes in this book and I’m sure I will probably cook my way through it and blog about each one that I make. Cast iron is so easy to cook with – I ended up getting myself an enamel coated cast iron dutch oven and use it often too. I would urge you to prepare everything before you start cooking it. It will help to keep the prep time down.
Directions:
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 4 chicken breasts)
Salt & Pepper
3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and diced
4 ounces small white mushrooms, cleaned, stems trimmed and halved.
1 shallot, peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 Cup all-purpose flour
3 Cups chicken stock
3/4 cup heavy cream (Trader Joes carries this)
1/4 cup dry sherry
2-3 Medium carrots – peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices
2 celery stocks, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp ground or freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
3/4 cup frozen peas
HERBED DUMPLINGS:
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cornmeal
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
7 Tbsp chilled butter
3 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 Cup whole milk
1/2 tsp kosher salt or fleur de sel
COOKING DIRECTIONS:
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees
- To prepare the chicken, rinse the chicken breasts, pat them dry and cut them into 1-inch strips. Season with salt and pepper and divide into 3 batches. Heat 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil in a 10 or 12 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the first batch of chicken and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides – about 5 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and repeat with the remaining batches, adding another tablespoon of olive oil for each batch. Once all the chicken is cooked, set chicken aside.
- In the same skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, mushrooms and shallots and cook, stirring occasionally until the onions have softened (almost carmelized) – about 5 minutes. Stir in flour. Slowly add the chicken broth, cream and sherry, whisking often and bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and add carrots, celery, bay leaf, nutmeg, oregano and thyme. Generously season to taste with salt and pepper and simmer for an extra 5 minutes. Return the chicken strips to the skillet and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Mix in the peas.
To prepare the dumplings:
- whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Cut the chilled butter into tablespoon sized slices. Using a pastry blender and working quickly so the butter remains cold, cut in the butter until the pieces are pea-sized. (You can also transfer the flour mixture to a food processor fitted with a steel blade, add the butter and pulse 5 or 6 times) Gently mix in the rosemary, using your hands or a spatula. Add the milk and mix gently just until the ingredients are wet and slightly sticky.
- Using a large spoon, scoop up some of the dumpling mixture and drop it on top of the chicken mixture. Repeat until all the dumpling mixture is used (you should have about 10 dumplings). Sprinkle the tops with kosher salt and put the skillet in the oven. Bake until the dumplings are golden brown – 20 to 25 minutes. If you want to brown the tops of the dumplings more, brush the tops with melted butter and turn on the broiler for the last few minutes, keeping a close eye on the dumplings at this point. Serve from the skillet.
COOK’s NOTE: Where do I begin…I loved the savory-ness of the dumplings with the cornmeal and the rosemary. It’s great being able to walk outside and pick the rosemary, thyme and oregano from the fresh herbs growing in my back yard. The underside of the dumpling will be moist, while the top is hard. I also made the dumplings in my food processor – it was so much easier than trying to blend with a pastry blender. Also, I didn’t have fresh mushrooms, but did have a 4 ounce jar of mushrooms and used those. They worked just as well. I’m not a big fan of cooked carrots, so I only used 1 carrot and added a bit more celery. I did add the nutmeg and it blended really well with the cream, sherry and chicken broth. When this came out of the oven it was more dense than stew like. There wasn’t any extra broth. The consistency reminded Mike and me of a chicken pot pie. So, the next time for me and this time for you – add more broth/water to make it more stew like. (Maybe an additional 2 cups of broth/water). Next time I will make it in my dutch oven too. Mike kept saying that it really had good flavors between the chicken and the dumplings - which it does. It’s so savory! We loved it and fortunately there are left overs! Can’t wait to eat it again.**
Bon Appetit!
Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes
Posted by: Susan on: February 28, 2010
Whenever possible I like to cook from scratch, for me there is just something wholesome about knowing what you are putting into the foods you eat. While the boxed pancake and waffle mixes are good when you are in a hurry, you really don’t know what products and preservatives are really being used. In the past I would be one of those people using the boxed waffle/pancake mix, but there is also something about making your own batter with the ingredients on your pantry shelves or in your refrigerator. One thing I love about this recipe is the use of buttermilk. It works for both sweet and savory dishes and I have found lately that this is one ingredient I love cooking with. It makes these pancakes light and fluffy! I hope you enjoy mixing up these whole wheat buttermilk pancakes!
Directions:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 large egg
1 large egg white
Cooking spray
Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups and level with a knife. Combine flours, sugar and next 3 dry ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. In a separate bowl, Combine buttermilk, oil, egg and egg white and stir with a whisk. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture and continue to stir until batter is moist and smooth.
Heat a non-stick griddle or a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter per pancake on to griddle. Turn pancakes over when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Serve with syrup and butter.
**COOK’s NOTE: I followed the directions as suggested. Looking back you could add blueberries or chocolate chips to the batter depending on what your family likes. I have a vintage stove and cooked these on the griddle in the middle of the burners. It was the first time I used it and while it turned out great pancakes, there was barely enough time for the batter to bubble before it was browned on the underside. Just make sure you know how hot your griddle will be so it doesn’t burn the pancake. It made about 6 pancakes for me. In hind sight, I wish I had added chocolate chips to the last portion of the batter so I could snack on them during the week – but there is always next time**
Bon Appetit!
Mike’s favorite casserole
Posted by: Susan on: February 24, 2010
- In: 1 | Beef Dishes | Pasta Dishes
- 2 Comments
As you know I’ve collected recipes for a while so it was only natural to want to have some of Mike’s favorite recipes from his family when we first got married. This recipe was deemed ”Mike’s favorite casserole” but when I learned that it had tomato soup for the sauce I wasn’t too sure how tasty it would really be. I mean, I’ve had spaghetti sauce with noodles and meat, but never Tomato Soup – it sounded interesting and turned out to be very good. I love this dish, probably as much as Mike does. Plus it’s amazingly simple and it all blends together really well once it’s out of the oven. Plus it serves great with a nice green salad.
Directions:
Set oven to 350 degrees.
1 Package Egg Noodles
1 pound Ground Beef
1 large can Tomato Soup (or 2- 10 ounce Campbell’s Tomato Soup cans)
2 Cups Tillamook pre-Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Add Egg Noodles to Boiling Water. In separate skillet cook ground beef. Layer a square casserole dish (or something of equal size) starting on bottom with Noodles, then ground beef, add the cheese to cover the ground beef and then top with the Tomato soup to cover the cheese.
Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Once baked stir everything together and serve.
**COOK’s NOTE: I made this dish tonight and added about half of one 10 ounce can to the meat mixture to give the meat some moisture and extra flavor. I then put the remaining half of the can on top of the cheese along with the other can. I used a Corningware white oval casserole dish tonight and it worked out perfectly. As for the noodles, I use about 1/2 – 3/4 of the bag. I try not to over power the dish with noodles and if I have extra noodles just keep them in a bag in the refrigerator. I also use whatever Mild or Sharp cheddar cheese I have available. I served this with a green salad and that was our meal. It was quick, easy and delicious as well as inexpensive to make. I’m sure it’ll become one of your favorite’s too!**
Bon Appetit!
Florentine Frittata
Posted by: Susan on: February 20, 2010
Here’s another great breakfast dish! I typically like to cook from scratch and everything in this recipe is except the packet of Knorr’s Cream of Spinach recipe mix. I made this for brunch at my parents home when we got together with the family last weekend. It was really easy to make – I would suggest using a 10 – 12″ skillet that is oven proof.
Directions:
1 package Knorr Cream of Spinach recipe mix
8 eggs
1/2 Cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Follow Directions on package.
**COOK’s NOTE: I followed the directions on the package; however, I sauteed the onions until they were carmelized in olive oil and then I added bacon as my “topping”. I cut the bacon up in pieces before adding to the skillet and cooking it. Once the onions and bacon were ready to go, I added the egg mixture to my skillet and continued following the directions on the package. The package lists a myriad of toppings can use all that would be great in the Frittata. And before I put the skillet in the broiler I sprinkled with cheese. It turned out really yummy!**
Bon Appetit!
