Baked Rice

Ingredients for Sauce

1 - 28 oz. can whole plum tomatoes
1 - 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
6 cloves garlic
1 tbsp Basil
1 tbsp Oregano
1/2 cup red wine
1 lb. chop meat (hamburger)
1 lb. sausage (out of casing)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Other ingredients
2 cups rice
Organic chicken broth
1 lb whole milk mozzarella, cut into small cubes
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, plus 1/4 cup

To prepare sauce:
In saucepan, press garlic, saute in EVOO
Using immersion blender (or regular blender), blend tomatoes
Add blended tomatoes to sauteed garlic
Add wine, basil, oregano and a little red pepper.
Add meat that has been fried/drained in separate pan
Bring to boil, simmer for 1 hour

While sauce is cooking, prepare rice, substituting chicken broth for the water.  Cook a little less than done since the rice will continue cooking during baking.

When rice is ready, add a little sauce and cubed mozzarella cheese.  Add 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese.  Mix thoroughly. Add more sauce until the desired consistency, Glenn used most of the sauce from the recipe above, but not all.

Pour into 9 x 13 baking dish.  Sprinkle the top with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until very hot.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Serve immediately with favorite full body red wine.  Makes great left overs, too.

Standing Rib Roast, Fingerling Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

(Vegan friends, please disregard)

6 1/2 lb Standing Rib Roast (two bones)
6 cloves of garlic-cut into the shape of a match stick
Plus additional crushed garlic (he used Trader Joe's)

• Preheat oven to 500 degrees (better have a clean over)

With a knife, pierce holes in roast and insert garlic sticks
Season each side of roast with
-kosher salt, pepper and crushed garlic

Place roast bones down in roasting pan

• Roast for 45 minutes at 500 degrees

Lower heat to 325 degree

• Roast for 12 minutes at 325

Increase heat to 450

• Roast for 15-25 minutes at 450, depending upon how you enjoy your meat. 

Glenn started with 15, but it was raw, so he put it back in for 10 more minutes.



Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes, uncovered.

Slice and serve with horseradish sauce.* Recipe below.

 

Horseradish sauce

Grate one cup of fresh horseradish, more if you want to amp it up

Add one cup Crème fraiche or sour cream

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

Stir and serve

Brussels Sprouts

One lb - Brussels sprouts

6 pieces of prosciutto, tear into small pieces

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Cut brussels sprouts in half, if they are large you can quarter them

Boil in salty water for 15 minutes or until tender

Remove from water, let cool

In saute pan, heat 4 tbsp olive oil (EVOO)

Throw brussels sprouts and prosciutto into oil, stir fry until brussel sprouts are slightly brown

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese

Fingerling Roasted Potatoes

1 lb fingerling potatoes, cut in half lengthwise, do not cut small ones

6 gloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

Sprinkle potatoes with 4 tbsp EVOO

Generously season with kosher salt and parsley

Stir in all the garlic (the garlic really makes these potatoes)

Roast for 25 minutes during the last 25 minutes of roasting the meat (@450 degrees) 

Butternut Squash Soup

New Year's Day Lunch ~ 2011

Ingredients:
2 leeks sliced
3 apples cored, sliced
5 tsb butter
3 lbs butternut squash, sliced open, remove seeds
Fry bacon for topping (approximately 2 slices per serving)
Sour cream (1 tsp per serving)
Italian parsley to top

Squash baking in oven

Slice open and remove seeds of squash, sprinkle with olive oil (EVOO), lay on cookie sheets to bake.  Back for 45 minutes @ 350 degrees or until tender, like a baked potato.

While squash is baking, using your soup pot, melt butter over medium heat, sauté leeks and apples for 40 minutes.

When squash is ready, scoop into pot containing the leeks/apples
Add 32 oz. organic chicken broth and 1/2 cup white wine
Cook for 20 minutes.

Blend using immersion blender

Blend liquid until smooth (Glenn used his new Christmas present, an immersion blender -- really easy to use and fast clean up)

Serve soup, top with crumbled bacon and dollop of sour cream

Marsala Shrimp - A Mario Batali recipe

From Molto Italiano cookbook, Mario Batali, Page 266.

Found at Food Network web site:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/jumbo-shrimp-marsala-housewife-style-recipe/index.html

*Glenn couldn't find currants, so he left them out. He also found some great sea scallops that he included along with the jumbo shrimp.

Next time I hope he uses white wine in place of the Marsala.  The marsala flavor was a little to much for me.

View from the table

Glenn loved the Marsala and probably won't take any liberties changing the recipe in the future.

French Onion Soup

Prepared for lunch in our cottage at the Inn at School House Creek, Little River, California.  December, 2010.


Ingredients:


Note:  Purchased ingredients at a crappy little market in Mendocino, CA.  -- Only onions available organic or none-organic...at Safeway try getting three different varieties...Sweet Maui, Vadalia or whatever is available.

• 3 Large Organic onions 
• 1 Qt. Organic Chicken broth
• 1/4 cup margarine (I can't believe it's not butter)
• 1 tblsp flour
• Jarlsberg Cheese (grated) - enough to top soup
• Provolone Cheese (grated) - enough to top soup
• Rustic Italian baguette 

Preparing:


Peel and slice thinly - Onion
Melt butter in pan -- big sauce pan
Saute onion for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally over moderate heat
Stir in flour
Cook for 3 minutes
Gradually whisk in chicken broth
Be sure to whisk in any browned onions at the bottom of the pan
Bring soup to a boil, stirring the entire time
When it comes to a boil, lower to simmer, cover and simmer for 20 minutes
Taste--adjust for salt and pepper


Serving:


Place slice of baguette in bottom of oven proof bowl (individual bowl)
Spoon soup into bowl
Sprinkle generously with grated cheese
Top with fresh cracked pepper
Place under broiler until browned


Serve immediately

Wine Pairing:  Ventana, 2008 Chardonnay (Cindy's choice)  Zinfendel or Cabernet (Glenn's choice)