Dinner Idea For Some Of That Leftover Holiday Ham!

Need a quick and easy way to use up some of that holiday ham? Try this delicious dinner dish: Bow-Ties with Peas & Ham

The entire meal takes 20 minutes, from start to finish! All you need is an onion, some frozen peas, cream, a box of bow-tie pasta and some left over ham cut into strips!

Like all pasta dishes, get that water boiling and start cooking that pasta! You'll want it al dente! When cooked, drain and return to pot.
Meanwhile, in a medium sauce pan, melt 3 tbls. of unsalted butter over medium heat and cook your onions until soft, about 3-4 minutes.

Next add the peas and cream, stir and simmer until it's slightly thickened, another 3-4 minutes.

Now, toss in your cooked ham strips, and simmer just til the ham is heated through, about 1-2 minutes.

Mix that sauce with the pasta and serve with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese on top!

Spaghetti Carbonara -Super Quick Meal In Minutes!

Spaghetti carbonara is an Italian pasta dish based on eggs, parmesan or pecorino romano cheese, guanciale, and black pepper. The dish was created in the middle of the 20th century.

The recipes vary, though all agree that cheese (parmesan, pecorino, or a combination), egg yolks (or whole eggs), cured fatty pork, and black pepper are basic. Guanciale is the most traditional meat, but pancetta is also used. In the US, it is often made with American bacon. I used bacon in this recipe.

The first thing you want to do is get that pot of salted water boiling and cook your spaghetti.

In a large skillet cook the bacon until just crispy. Remove from the heat and drain off some of the fat.

When the pasta is ready, drain and add to the skillet with the bacon. Whisk together eggs, cheese and freshly ground black pepper in a bowl. Pour the egg mixture into the pasta and combine thoroughly. The residual heat from the pasta will cook the eggs.

Serve immediately with extra grated cheese.

This is another fantastic recipe from "Mad Hungry - Feeding Men & Boys" by Lucinda Scala-Quinn

Spaghetti Bolognese - A Manly Meat Sauce

A great weekend meal, this hearty sauce has it all! Your meat, veggies and dairy, served atop spaghetti, or any pasta of your choice, and you have something from all 4 food groups!
This recipe comes from my new favorite cookbook, "Mad Hungry-Feeding Men & Boys"
The sauce is made up of ground beef or a combination of ground beef & pork, pancetta, carrots, celery, onion, red wine, cream, tomatoes & spices!

Start by heating olive oil in a pan and adding the onion, carrot and celery (commonly known in French cooking as a Mirepoix) to saute'.

Then you add the beef and pancetta and cook until browned.

Next comes the wine, then the rest of the ingredients! Gently simmer for about 40 minutes until the sauce has thickened!

About 10 minutes before the sauce is done, cook your spaghetti.

Right when the sauce is finished, stir in a little butter and serve the sauce over pasta with some freshly grated parmesan cheese!

Italian Style Entree "Cupcakes"!

Always looking for new and different ideas for meals this one "takes the cake", or should I say, "cupcake"?

Recently, while listening to "Everyday Food" on Martha Stewart Living Radio, Sirius 112/XM 157, the host, Sandy Gluck, put together an interesting take on a "savory" cupcake with a Spanish Flair. I found this really interesting and asked Sandy (via Facebook) for the recipe. She graciously replied and explained that it wasn't really a recipe, but more of a "construction project" and described how she put hers together. Inspired by Sandy's creation, I put together an Italian version and the result was amazingly delicious!

First thing I did was throw together a pot of meat sauce which has to simmer for several hours. This is my Grandmother's recipe and a family secret, so don't go asking for the recipe! You'll have to be content with a photo of the sauce simmering on the stove!


Next, I made a thick polenta by mixing 1-1/2 cups of cornmeal into 1 quart of boiling salted water, and then whisked in about 3/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese.


When the polenta was cool enough to handle, I spooned about 3 tablespoons into the cups of an oiled muffin tin. Using your clean, then oiled fingers, push some of the polenta up the sides to form a "cup".


I then made a filling consisting of garlic, onion, chopped portabella mushroom stems, and Italian sausage (removed from their casings).

In a large skillet, heat some olive oil and saute' the garlic, onion & mushroom stems until soft.

Now add the crumbled Italian sausage and cook until it's browned and cooked through.

Add about a half cup of Italian style bread crumbs and mixed it all together.

When the filling is complete, I scooped about 2 tablespoons into each of the polenta cups.

Then topped each "cup" with the remaining polenta to cover the filling.

Next I browned some portabella mushroom caps in a little olive oil.

Then added about a cup of water, covered them and steamed them until they were tender.

Next, press the caps onto the filled polenta cups (These really do look like a cupcakes, don't they?).

Top the "cupcake" with the hot meat sauce and enjoy!

Actually very simple to make, and makes a delicious main course! I think I may try these in mini-muffin tins for great party hors d'oeuvres. And who said cupcakes were just for dessert?

Pork Chops and Apple......uh I mean Garlic-Rosemary Cream Sauce

With some unexpected free time on my hands, I've been cooking dinner more often. I just received this new recipe yesterday and ironically pulled pork chops out of the freezer that morning! What better time to try something different!

You can get the recipe here: Pork Chops with Garlic-Rosemary Cream

Let me also just tell you that this is a simple and quick recipe! This entire recipe took me about 30 minutes, start to finish!

As always, I like to start out by assembling all the ingredients: Boneless pork-chops (the recipe calls for bone-in chops, but hey, I only had boneless!), olive oil, lots of garlic, fresh rosemary, sour cream, salt, pepper and chicken broth.




First, heat some olive oil and garlic in a large oven-proof skillet for about a minute. just until the garlic is fragrant!



Next, place the cooked garlic, oil and the rosemary in a small food processer and pulse until it forms a thick paste. Then mix the garlic mixture with the sour cream and set aside.






Next, add a little more olive oil to the pan and sear the pork chops on one side for about 3 minutes.



Spread about a tablespoon of the garlic-cream mixture onto each chop and place the pan in the oven for about 10 minutes.



When the chops are done, remove the pan from the oven (be sure to use an oven mitt) and place them on a serving platter and cover loosely with foil.

Place the skillet back on top of the stove, add the chicken broth to the pan and bring to a boil, scrapping any brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook this until it slightly thickens and reduces by half! Like all sauces and gravies, I like to pour it through a strainer after cooking.



Pour a little of the sauce over the pork chops or serve on the side. Here, I've served this with a potato gratin and a quick bread dressing, as well as a green salad.



Enjoy!