Penne Alla Salsiccia for Secret Recipe Club

It is the start of the May Long Weekend and I'm just writing my post for Monday's Secret Recipe Club reveal. I feel like the last few months have just got away on me!! But with each month that passes, I can tell you one thing - I'm always thrilled with my assignment for Secret Recipe Club. Whether its a blog that challenges me with recipes that are out of my comfort zone, not my usual fare, or too many delicious recipes to choose from, its always fun browsing through that blog trying to pick what you're going to make! Some of my past choices for SRC have been:

Salted Caramel Filled Brownies
Quinoa & Black Bean Chili 
Birthday Cake Oreo Cookie Bark
Zucchini Carrot Cake
Pizza Bites
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzels
Lime & Blueberry Scones

All of them were absolutely delicious and so worth the effort of making. :)

This month I was assigned Cookin' with Moxie written by Jamie. Jamie is a beautiful Italian girl who absolutely loves to cook and loves to eat! Her love for cooking, particularly for cooking meals true to her Italian heritage totally shows through when you look through her blog. It was so hard to pick a recipe because I wanted to try everything!!! After looking through loads of recipes, I finally settled on Spaghetti Alla Salsiccia, for which I didn't have any spaghetti on hand, so I used penne pasta instead and it worked like a charm! Oh man was it good! My homemade pasta sauce doesn't very often end up tasting 10x better than the stuff you buy in a jar, so I usually avoid making it. But this recipe is a keeper. With a short list of easy to find ingredients, you'll be on your way to an authentic tasting pasta dish in no time at all. I made a couple of small changes to the recipe based on what I had on hand in the house, but other than that, I left the recipe as is!

Penne Alla Salsiccia
Recipe minimally adapted from Cookin' with Moxie

Ingredients:

• 1 lb penne
• 2 tsp olive oil, divided
• 1 16oz package of sliced crimini mushrooms
• 1 lb mild italian sausage (can use mild italian flavoured turkey sausage for lower fat dish)
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups pasta water, reserved from cooking penne
• shredded provolone to finish dish

Method:

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente according to the directions on the box. Reserve 1 1/2 cups cooking water for later. Drain pasta and set aside.
2. While pasta is cooking, heat 1 tsp olive oil in a saute pan. Saute mushrooms over medium heat until lightly browned, about 5-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to distribute seasonings and then remove from pan. Set aside.
3. Add the remaining 1 tsp olive oil (I found I didn't need this as the sausage was oily enough) and saute the sausage until just about cooked through. Add the red wine and cook until reduced by half. Once the wine is reduced, add the mushrooms, worcestershire sauce and tomato paste. Cook stirring 1-2 minutes so everything gets coated.
4. Add reserved pasta water and stir to combine. Simmer sauce uncovered, until slighly thickened 20-30 minutes. Season with additional pepper to taste.
5. Combine pasta and sauce and stir to evenly distribute.

And as Jamie would say Tutti Mangia!

Loved my SRC assignment this month and loved the recipe I picked! Thanks Jamie for the lovely selection of recipes. :) Can't wait to try some more.

Happy Cooking my Friends!

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

I can't believe its almost Christmas!! Tomorrow is Christmas eve... wow has time ever flown by. It feels like 2011 just started and here we are finishing up the year already. In some ways its been a great year and in some ways its been really tough. I've learned a lot this year and really feel like my career has officially begun, but I've also had to work really hard to pass the tests and modules that are part of getting my CA designation. But with any luck, and some more hard work, I'm hoping to write my last exam in September 2012!!! I'm sure you've had many achievements and hurdles this year when you look back at the year... That is one of my favorite parts of this time of year. My other favorite part of this time of year is giving - giving loved ones gifts and seeing the looks of delight on their faces and giving my loved ones delicious and hearty meals.

And this is one of those meals - hearty and prepared with time and love. Red Wine Braised Short Ribs with roasted garlic mashed potatoes. This is a very low maintenance meal - once you get the ribs browned, they just braise away over the afternoon with minimal work required right before serving. This makes them the perfect dinner party dish! Put em on in the morning and then forget about them until just before you serve. Bliss!!

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs
Recipe from Bon Appetit Magazine, October 2011

Ingredients:

• 5 lb bone-in short ribs, cut crosswise into 2" pieces
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 medium onions, roughly chopped
• 3 medium carrots, coarsely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 750 ml bottle dry red wine (preferably Cabernet Sauvignon)
• 10 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
• 8 sprigs thyme
• 4 sprigs oregano
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
• 4 cups low salt beef stock

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Season the short ribs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Working in two batches, brown short ribs on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer short ribs to a plate. Pour off all but 3 tbsp drippings from pot.
2. Add onions, carrots, and celery to pot and cook over medium high heat, stirring often, until onions are browned, about 5 minutes. Add flour and tomato paste, cook, stirring constantly, until well combined and deep red, 2-3 minutes. Stir in wine, then add short ribs with any accumulated juices. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and simmer until wine is reduced by about half, about 25 minutes. Add all herbs to pot along with garlic. Stir in stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and transfer to oven.
3. Cook until short ribs are tender, 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Transfer short ribs to a platter. Strain sauce from pot into measuring cup. Spoon fat from surface of sauce and discard. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Serve in shallow bowls over mashed potatoes with sauce spooned over.

 Nice and easy! The ribs get sooo tender they just fall off the bone, and with the red wine and the delicious fresh herbs the flavour is exquisite. I hope you get a chance to try out this recipe! Your family and friends will thank you.

Happy Cooking & Baking this Holiday Season my Friends! I hope you enjoy your time with family and friends. :)

Balsamic Chicken aka the Best Chicken You Will Ever Have

This is a recipe to make on the weekend, when you have a bit of spare time and want your house to smell amazing! Make two chickens if you're having company - people will like this chicken SO MUCH that they will eat ALL of it! :) Plus, you get to use red wine in this recipe and you know what that means? You get to drink the rest of the bottle! ;) Woot!

I have to apologize though, the last time I made this recipe, I took photos all the way through the prep stages, but I was so excited to eat it, I forgot to take photos of the finished chicken. :( So I'm sorry, you won't get photos of what the bird looks like when its cooked, but I can tell you what it looks like. It takes on a super dark finish on the skin from the red wine and the onions in the bottom of the pan carmelize and turn a really dark colour too - they taste sweet and delicious. I hate red onions, but I gobble these up because they taste THAT good! So you'll have to trust me on this one - its delicious and beautiful when its done. So please try this recipe out, despite my dismal attempt to photograph it!

Balsamic Chicken

Recipe from my Auntie Shannon

Ingredients:

• 1 5-6lb chicken
• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp coarse salt (yes, tbsp is correct - it brings out the flavour in the chicken and doesn't taste as salty as it sounds!!)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• black pepper
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 2 big red onions

Method:

1. In the morning (minimum 2 hours before cooking), combine rosemary, salt, garlic, black pepper in a bowl. Rub under chicken skin and inside of the chicken. Let stand covered in the fridge until ready to start cooking.
2. Preheat oven to 350F. Finely slice red onions and layer on bottom of roasting pan. Place chicken on top of onions and pour red wine and balsamic vinegar over the chicken.
3. Bake for 2 hours (or 3 hours if doing 2 chickens). Baste with juices from bottom of pan and additional red wine every 1/2 hour. If chicken gets too dark, cover loosely with foil to prevent further browning. Remember to baste!!!

*This is excellent erved with garlic dill mashed potatoes!

So thats it - its a simple recipe - you just have to make sure you have time to put it on to sit for a bit before putting it into the oven. Dinner party guests will definitely be impressed when you serve your chicken with the carmelized onions and garlic dill mashed potatoes! Make this for your next Sunday dinner with friends or family, they will love it!

Happy Cooking my Friends!