Proud Italian Cook

Warm and Cozy Fall Dinners

October 5, 2012 by Marie 49 Comments

The cooler weather is bringing out my urge to cook more comfort foods. When it’s damp, rainy and cold outside, like it happens to be today, a salad just isn’t going to cut it! I’m sharing with you two of a very long list of dinners that bring me comfort. Neither take too long to cook, so both would be great for a mid week meal as well as for the weekend.

Boneless Pork Chops in a Creamy Mustard Thyme Sauce with Mushrooms and Caramelized Shallots.
Sound fancy or complicated? It’s really not, providing you have some caramelized shallots or onions done ahead of time.

Season your chops with salt and pepper then brown them in a drizzle of olive oil.*** Remove chops, do the same with the mushrooms, then set aside as well.*** De glaze your pan with chicken stock enough to cover the bottom and let it bubble.*** Add two heaping tablespoons of grainy mustard, some fresh thyme and a cup or so of cream or half and half, whisking until smooth.*** Place the chops back in along with the mushrooms and simmer until meat is cooked through.*** Garnish with the caramelized shallots.

You’ll need to have something green on the side so, how about a little broccoli rabe? It goes very well with both the pork and the chicken. Here’s how I make it.

And speaking of chicken, I love making this Ricotta Stuffed Chicken. You’ll need a butterflied chicken, which means you need to remove the rib, back and breast bone of your chicken then flatten it out like a butterfly. I’ve tried to do it myself but it’s never a pretty site so I just let my butcher at Whole Foods do it for me, it takes him 2 seconds and it comes out perfect every time!

Gently loosen the skin all around the chicken with your fingers, be careful not to rip into it.

Saute in a small pan, 3 chopped green onions and 1 minced garlic clove.*** After it cools, place into a bowl along with 2 cups of drained ricotta cheese,*** 1/2 cup of chopped sun dried tomatoes in oil,***1/2 cup of grated romano cheese,*** the zest of 1 lemon,*** chopped fresh basil and parsley,*** salt and pepper. Mix it all together.

Take a spoon and shove the mixture all over underneath the skin that you loosened. Rub the outside of your chicken with olive oil and fresh herbs and roast in a 375 degree oven until internal temperature reaches 180.Get your sweater on and start cooking!

49 Comments Filed Under: Fall, Meats, Poultry Tagged: boneless pork, broccoli rabe, butterflied chicken, creamy mustard sauce, fall dinners, ricotta stuffed chicken

Savory Kale and Pumpkin Scones

September 27, 2012 by Marie 16 Comments

The next time you have a pot of homemade soup simmering on the stove take the extra time and whip up a batch of these savory scones, don’t they just scream fall?
They’re crunchy, cheesy, and filled with all things good, like pumpkin, kale and of course… a little bit of butter!

Make sure you buy a sweet pumpkin that’s for cooking and baking, or better yet, just use a butternut squash, it’s a lot easier to peel and cut, it tastes good, and you’ll still be getting that pretty orange color.

You can even make them ahead of time, stick them in the freezer and warm up as needed.

I used a wonderful aged cheddar in mine and added kale that is still growing strong in my garden.
These yummy scones came from, ” The Book of Kale” by Sharon Hanna, and the recipe has been reprinted here.
I followed her recipe exactly but also added in about 1/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese, why not?

Perfect with a steamy hot bowl of soup!

16 Comments Filed Under: Breads, Greens Tagged: butternut squash, kale, pumpkin, savory scones

Veggie Napoleon

September 20, 2012 by Marie 21 Comments

This is a savory version of a napoleon, layers and layers of your favorite vegetables all perched on top of a sturdy portobello base. These pretty bundles are the perfect side dish to any protein you make or a straight up main course served together with a salad.

This dish was inspired by something my sister in law ordered while on vacation, her portobello was filled with Yukon gold potatoes, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers and parmesan cheese.

I wanted to incorporate some autumn vegetables on mine so I added sliced sweet potatoes, kale and some nice fresh green beans I found.
Everything is precooked before you layer, I steamed the green beans and sauteed the kale but roasted everything else you see here, the eggplant, red and yellow peppers, the sweet potatoes and the onion slices all tossed with a little olive oil and placed in a 400 degree oven until golden and tender.

The portobellos, (I bought large ones) were scraped of their gills ( to give you lots of room for layering) and roasted for only 10 minutes along with everything else just to get them a little tender.

Then just start layering! In between the layers you want add some grated cheese that melts good like fontina or mozzarella, it sort of “glues” the veggies together so that when you cut into bundle, ( with a serrated knife please) they won’t fall apart.
Place them back in the oven for a couple of minutes just to let the cheese melt in between.
I think I was getting a little over zealous here stacking them too high with too many layers in the beginning, I tend to over due it, just ask my kids!

So I ended up making mine a little more compact with not quite as many layers as above but always ending with the sweet potato slices on top.
Place your finished veggie napoleon in a nice big puddle of marinara and sprinkle with more cheese, delish!
Get creative here, the various veggie combinations are endless!!