Pressed Cuban

I love leftovers! Yesterday I had marinated and cooked a pork tenderloin for dinner and today we have the fixings for yummy cuban sandwiches. Here's what you need to make two sandwiches:

2 ciabatta rolls

pork tenderloin sliced very thin

2 slices swiss cheese

a few thin dill pickle slices

mustard

a few slices of thin smoked deli ham

Assemble and grill in a panini press.

Chicken Paprikash

We eat a lot of chicken. Because of this, I'm always on the look out for something different to do with it. The other day I saw this recipe featured in the New York Times and decided to give it a try. Usually paprikash recipes feature beef so this intrigued me. It was very easy and quite tasty. I also decided to serve it over "zoodles" (zucchini noodles!) since I hadn't used my handy gadget, The Spiralizer, for some time.

4 chicken thighs
4 chicken drumsticks
1 T vegetable oil
1 T butter
salt and pepper
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 T flour
3 T Hungarian Hot Paprika (or you could use sweet)
1 can Fire Roasted diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream

preheat oven 400

Salt and pepper the chicken well. Heat the oil and butter in Dutch oven. On high heat, brown the chicken pieces about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Set chicken aside and turn heat to medium and throw in the chopped onion and cook for another 5 minutes-then the garlic for about 3 minutes. Add the flour and the paprika and stir well. Stir in the broth and the tomatoes. Return the chicken pieces to the pan and then stick the whole thing in the oven for 30 minutes. To serve, remove the chicken from the pan and stir in the yogurt or sour cream. Put the chicken over noodles or "zoodles" and then spoon that yummy sauce over the chicken. Yum!

Wine-Braised Brisket

Often when people make brisket they use a fairly large piece of meat but this was just for the two of us so my brisket was only about 1 and 1/2 pounds. The secret to a juicy brisket is letting the meat sit in the sauce a bit. Make this early in the day and then reheat before eating.

1-2 pound brisket
salt and pepper
1/4 olive oil
1/2 onion sliced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 cup white wine
4 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup grainy mustard
2 long strips of lemon zest
2 t thyme
6 carrots peeled and cut in 3-inch pieces

Preheat oven to 300. Generously season brisket with salt and pepper. Heat 2 T oil in dutch oven over medium high heat. Sear brisket until browned 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plate. Add remaining 2 T oil and reduce heat to medium. Stir in garlic and onion and cook stirring 2 minutes, stir in wine--add broth, mustard, zest, and thyme; bring to a boil. Add meat. Cover, and transfer to oven and bake 2 hours.

Turn meat over and add carrots and cook another hour. Remove from oven-remove meat to a cutting board and let it cool. Remove carrots. Pour remaining sauce into baking dish. Slice meat against the grain and put back into the sauce. Arrange carrots around meat-cover with foil and refrigerate. Reheat covered in a 350 oven until warmed through--40 minutes or so.

Kasha and Bowties

My mother-in-law did not cook a wide array of dishes but those that she did make were always very good I thought. A favorite of my husband's was her brisket with kasha and bowties. Over the years I haven't made this dish very often and when I do it's never as good as mom's was. I never really had a recipe from her so I've kind of made up my own version and the hubs likes it! The other day I decided to make it and we really did enjoy it so I thought I might as well get into the blog for posterity! ha Taj may want his Grammie's version of this traditional dish some day!!

Kasha and Bowties  (I'll blog the brisket tomorrow)

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onion
salt
1 egg
1 cup toasted buckwheat groats *to toast, cook in large dry skillet over medium high heat, stirring, until brown--about five minutes
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chicken broth
8 oz bowtie pasta
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 T butter
pepper

Heat oil in large deep sauté pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until golden-about 15 minutes. Remove onion and set aside. While onions are cooking bring large pot of water to boil for pasta.

Beat egg in a small bowl. Add toasted groats and mix well to coat. Add groats and garlic to hot sauté pan. Increase heat and cook until brownish-about 3 minutes. Add chicken stock and the onions and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook until liquid is absorbed--10-20 minutes. While groats are cooking, cook pasta 10 minutes and then drain well.

Remove groats from heat and add pasta, parsley, butter, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Brunch!

When you're retired every day is the weekend in some ways. After years of being on a tight schedule,  I some times need to pinch myself for a reality check. Yes, it's true: I don't have to get up at 5:30 am to be at school by 7:15! Although every day is like Saturday, Sunday is still a bit different. It's the only day we have a newspaper delivered and I still look forward to my morning cup of coffee along with the Sunday Styles page of the NYT. Often on Sundays I make us a brunch, too. Today, I looked in the fridge to figure out what might constitute a proper brunch and found the perfect combo. Here's what you'll need:

4 large portobello mushroom caps
olive oil
bag of spinach
1/2 onion
1/4 cup goat cheese
some fresh dill
4 eggs
1 T butter
salt and pepper

In large skillet, heat some olive oil and cook mushrooms on both sides. At same time in another large skillet, heat some oil and saute the onion and then add the spinach in bunches to wilt. Salt and pepper.

Whisk the four eggs well, and add them to a small saucepan (in which you've melted a T of butter). Scramble lightly--when almost done fold in the fresh dill and the goat cheese.

To assemble, divide spinach among the caps, then top with egg mixture and enjoy!