Saturday, October 31, 2009

Wine Tasting and Food Sampling Event in the South Bay, Redondo Beach | Crowne Plaza and SBE Present:

Wine Tasting and Food Sampling Event in the South Bay, Redondo Beach | Crowne Plaza and SBE Present:

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Friday, October 30, 2009

French Toast

This recipe came from www.chow.com. I made this for dinner Sunday night. Yummy and satisfying this tasty treat is not just for breakfast anymore. Besides, who has time to cook in the morning? Invite on that certain someone you want to relax with and impress and go to town with French Toast for dinner. Maybe have some bubbly wine while you are cooking. Get in a French mood.
 
Pair this delightful, tasty meal with hot chocolate laced with any coffee or butterscotch liquor for something different. Don't forget the whipped cream on top.

 
TIME/SERVINGS
Total Time: 45 minutes
Active Time: 30 minutes
Makes: 4 servings

 
INGREDIENTS
  1. 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  2. 4 large eggs
  3. 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  4. Grated zest from 1 medium orange
  5. 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
  6. 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  7. 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  8. 8 to 12 (3/4-inch-thick) slices country bread, challah, or brioche
  9. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Roasted Pineapple with Rum
Vanilla ice cream or coconut sorbet (optional)

 
INSTRUCTIONS

  1.  Heat the oven to 200°F. Whisk together milk, eggs, sugar, orange zest, vanilla seeds (or extract), cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large, shallow dish. Dip bread slices in egg mixture, coating each side and letting the excess drip off.
  2.  Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add butter. When butter foams, place a single layer of soaked bread slices in the pan and cook until golden brown on one side, about 3 minutes; flip to brown the other side, about 3 minutes more. Place the cooked French toast on an ovenproof plate or baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while you finish cooking the rest.
  3.  To serve, place two or three slices of French toast and several slices of roasted pineapple on each plate. (Reserve extra pineapple for another use.) Spoon spiced pineapple juices over top and, depending on your mood, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or coconut sorbet. 

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Pork Chops for Dinner

All you newbie cooks here is a perfect pork chop recipe.
Stuffed Pork Chops.
This main course takes 15 minutes to prepare, 25-30 minutes to cook and it serves 6.
You will need:
  1. 6 pork loin chops, 1" thick, bone in
  2. 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  3. 1/2 teaspoon  of black pepper
  4. 1 cup of bread crumbs ( I make my own from old bread)
  5. 1/2 cup of smoked mozzarella or smoke Gouda cheese
  6. 1/4 cup of chopped ham, I like prosciutto
  7. 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
  8. 1/2 cup of water or 1/2 cup of red wine (I like Chianti)

  1. Trim the excess fat from the chop. Slit a pocket into the meaty part of each chop cutting towards the bone. Season each chop with salt and pepper.
  2. In a mixing bowl combine the bread crumbs, cheese, ham and salt and pepper. Stuff this mixture into the chop and secure it closed with a toothpick.
  3. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over a medium flame. Cook each chop for 3-5 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.  Add the liquid (water or wine) and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 25 minutes or until tender and white throughout. Remove the toothpicks and serve.

This dish should be accompanied by a green salad and rice pilaf. If you are a white wine drinker, choose a Pinot Grigio or a Chablis. If you prefer red, Pinot Noir is the best choice, but a Merlot will do just fine.

Anytime you want my recipes for any dish I mention or preference I note, email me at mesplanners@gmail.com or post a comment here.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Breaded Chicken Done Right.

Dinner for 4 my total cost $7.00


I am not saying you can eat in or out everyday at this amazing price, but you can do it once in awhile. First you need someone in the group of 4 who can cook. You will need one hour of that person’s time to shop and prep the meal.

Grocery List:
Boneless, skinless chicken breast $1.99/lb four equal pieces about 6-7 ounces each
Kosher salt
Water
1 day

Rinse the chicken and place it in a covered bowl. I soak the chicken beast in a 10% brine solution. Taken from “The Joy of Cooking” the solution is 6 tablespoons of kosher salt to one quart of water.

Grocery List:
2 eggs
Two cups of seasoned flour (any flour that is powdery seasoned with seasoning you like, taste it)
Two cups of unseasoned bread crumbs
Wax paper
Olive oil to coat a 10” sauté pan

After a soak, I put the four breast portions in a strainer. Get two plates and a bowl. Put seasoned flour on one plate, bread crumbs on the other and two eggs in the bowl. Beat the eggs.

Now it is time to bread the breast. Put the pieces of chicken in a strainer to dairn off excess water. Take the breast pieces and dredge them in the flour, dip them in the eggs and coat them with the bread crumbs. Lay that on some wax paper and repeat the process.

Warm the olive oil. If you overheat the oil the flavor is ruined. Warm the oil over a medium low flame. Lightly brown each breaded filet. Place it in a shallow baking pan that is either non stick or has been lightly greased.

Bake these covered for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Uncover them and cook them for 10 more minutes.

To accompany the chicken use any green vegetable that you like. For this dish I choose sautéed red onion, spicy jalapeño and Bok Choy. Bok Choy is a dark green cabbage that is very popular is Chinese food.

Start by chopping the onion into small pieces. Heat olive oil to a medium heat and cook the onion for 10 minutes. Now add the chopped jalapeño and cook for 5 minutes. Cut the Bok Choy into pieces that about 1” long. Wash the cut pieces in cold water. Drain out the water and add the chopped Bok Choy to the skillet and cook it for five minutes. You can substitute broccoli, green cabbage, collards or even green beans, what ever you like. I used Bok Choy because it was in season.

What is the outcome? Four servings of lightly breaded, baked chicken breast with sautéed seasonal vegetable, a healthy delicious meal, made at home.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Why Cook At Home When You Can Eat Out.


With the abundance of fast food, deli food, frozen packaged food, and restaurants all around, why go to the trouble of learning to cook at home?

The most common answer I hear from people is that they don't know how. They don't know what ingredients to buy or what pans to use. They've watched other people struggle to put a simple meal on the table that ended up being tasteless and not worth eating. The lessons learned in "home living" or "home economics" classes have long been forgotten. I don’t even think they teach those classes in today’s high schools. Most people are clueless and they don’t know where to begin.

You begin with the desire to live a healthier lifestyle. You control the amounts of fat, sodium, carbohydrates, or any other additive. You can buy fruits and vegetables in season when they are at their best both flavor and nutritional value. Portion control is as easy as deciding how much food to put on your plate, eliminating the temptation to eat all those fries that came with your restaurant burger. You can probably shop at a farmers market and get fresh, locally grown produce. The produce from the farmers market is so fresh it will last longer in your refrigerator than the vegetables and fruits from the local mega store. Always choose the freshest ingredients. The less something is processed, the fresher it is. The best time to start avoiding heart disease and any number of other health issues is today. Start cooking for yourself today and you begin feeling healthier almost immediately.

It is less expensive to eat at home than to eat out. No matter what level dining you choose, you can produce two to three times as many meals if you bought the ingredients and cooked yourself. The starting point is to get key ingredients into your house. In order to know what key ingredients you should have on hand, start collecting recipes that you want to try. You can collect ingredients and pans as we go along.

It is less time consuming to eat at home. You don’t have to drive to the restaurant, wait to be seated, order food and wait for it to arrive. Instead you can quickly prepare your dish, while it cooks; you can read your mail, make phone calls, catch up on the day’s news or maybe do some laundry.

Cooking for yourself allows you more flexibility than using prepared foods or ordering at a restaurant. You don’t have to be a picky eater to know that sometimes you just don’t want your sandwich with everything on it. At home, if you don't like black olives in your pasta, don't use them. If you like extra basil, add it. You can use olive oil instead of butter or soy milk instead of dairy. The choices are limitless, and your meals are suited to your tastes, every time. What restaurant can do that for you?

Finally, it may all you need to add something special to your personal life. Dinner at home with friends or loved ones and you prepared the food.

Try the recipes you find here and discover the chef at home. Researchers have found that the Mediterranean diet promotes good health. Go shopping and buy Extra Virgin Olive Oil, cold pressed, dried basil, dried tarragon, dried parsley and kosher salt. You will always want to have these ingredients in your kitchen.

The first recipe is marinara. Go to the store and buy; 56 oz. Whole Peeled Tomatoes (if you do not have a blender buy crushed tomatoes),Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, Chianti (Italian Red Table Wine), 1 Bunch Fresh Sweet Basil, 1 Bunch Fresh Tarragon, 3 medium Shallots, Salt & Black Pepper.

Instructions: Wash the basil and tarragon, and wrap them in a towel to dry. Purée the tomatoes in your blender. Canned tomatoes are fine, although if you have the patience it takes to peel fresh ones, your sauce will taste that much better. Peel and chop the shallots as finely as you want. Larger pieces, of course, mean chunkier sauce. Chop the basil and tarragon together, very finely, almost to a pulp.

Combine the shallots, basil, and tarragon in a large saucepan. Drizzle enough olive oil into the bottom of the pan to cover the vegetables, about 1/2 cup. Then sprinkle some salt and pepper on top, just to get started.

Sauté the mixture over a low flame for five minutes or so, until the shallots begin to brown around the edges. Then add 1 cup of red wine to the pan (use Merlot or Pinot Noir for a sweeter sauce, Chianti or Cabernet Sauvignon for a heavier flavor). Stirring the mixture occasionally, allow it to simmer and reduce for about five minutes. Sprinkle in some more salt and pepper.

Add the tomato purée and stir. Keep the flame low — the more slowly this sauce cooks, the better it tastes. Cover the pan. After ten minutes, uncover and stir the sauce. Taste it, and add more salt and pepper, if necessary. Avoid allowing it to boil, as this will make the olive oil separate. Cook the sauce for thirty more minutes, stirring and tasting it at least every ten. If you want a thicker sauce, leave the pan uncovered and stir more frequently, allowing steam to escape but keeping the heat evenly distributed (to prevent the oil from separating).

When the sauce is finished cooking, remove the pan from the flame and cover it (if you haven’t already). If you plan to keep any leftovers, you must let the sauce cool to room temperature before refrigerating it.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Lasagna Rollups

Prep Time 30 minutes Cook time 30 minutes

This recipe calls for frozen spinach. First thing in the morning , take the spinach out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator so it will defrost. You can also defrost spinach in the microwave. The spinach must be completely defrosted so that you can squeeze all the water out.


This recipe makes 10 servings. You will be able to freeze the extra or take it for lunch. Lasagna is easy to microwave. This is also a great party dish and great when paired with a tray of meatballs in marinara and a Caesar salad.

The ingredients you will need for this Italian classic;


  1. 16 ounces of uncooked lasagna noodle
  2.  16 ounces of shredded mozzarella cheese
  3.  16 ounces of ricotta cheese
  4.  16 ounces of firm tofu
  5.  2 cups of grated Parmesan cheese
  6. 28 ounces of Marinara
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles for 5 to 6 minutes. Set a timer. The pasta must be just slightly underdone. Drain the lasagna and lay out the noodles on a flat surface.

 2. Squeeze all the water out of the frozen spinach.

 3. In a large mixing bowl, mix together grated cheese, ricotta cheese, tofu, frozen spinach, and 1 cup Parmesan cheese.

 4. Lay out a noodle. Spread a layer of the cheese mixture on the noodle, then add a thin layer of sauce. Roll the noodle up, and place seam side down in a 13x9 pan. Repeat for other noodles. Top with remaining sauce and Parmesan cheese.

 5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes


Served this with a Sangiovese or a Chianti and a tossed green salad






Friday, October 16, 2009

Wine Done Right

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Beef and Blue Cheese

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook time 15 minutes


Ingredients
  1. 2 (6 ounce) beef tenderloin filets, 1 1/2 inches thick
  2. 2 tablespoons of butter, softened
  3. 2 slices of white bread crust removed
  4. 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  5. 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan

1. Place meat on broiler pan. Broil 4-6 in. from the heat for 5-8 minutes on each side or until meat is browned and cooked to desired doneness (for medium-rare, a meat thermometer should read 145 degrees F; medium, 160 degrees F; well-done, 170 degrees F).


2. Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the blue cheese and butter; set aside. In a skillet, sauté bread cubes in oil until golden brown. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Top steaks with blue cheese mixture and sprinkle with croutons; broil 1 minute longer or until cheese is slightly melted.