Grilled Chicken with Red Chile Veloute Sauce

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts
2 tablespoons Poultry Perfect Rub
3 tablespoons butter; unsalted
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups Chicken stock; chopped
salt; to taste
white pepper; to taste
2 Dried red chili
1 tablespoon parsley; finely diced
1 tablespoon butter cold

Perfect Poultry Rub

3/4 cup Hungarian paprika
1/4 cup black pepper freshly ground
1/4 cup celery salt
1/4 cup sugar (use Sugar In The Raw or turbinado sugar instead)
2 tablespoon onion powder (I coarse grind dried onion flakes instead)
2 tablespoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons cayenne 
2 tablespoon zest from 3 to 4 lemons dried and minced 

Directions

Season the chicken with the poultry rub and let sit at room temperature. Fire up your grill and let it preheat.

Start making your veloute sauce.

It's basically making a blond roux with the butter and flour. Gradually whisk in the stock in small increments, kind of like a risotto. It's not an exact measurement because you go by the texture of the sauce to know when you've added enough.

After it has simmered lightly for 20 minutes, I add in the chiles and parsley. I break one end of the chiles and pour out the seeds so I'm using mostly only red pepper flake.

Grill the chicken over direct heat at 400f for 5 minutes. Flip and cook another 4-5 minutes, or until the breasts hit 160f on an instant read thermometer. Remove and let rest.

Add the 1 Tbsp of very cold butter to the veloute sauce and stir until slowly melted and emulsified into the sauce.

Slice the chicken in 1/4" slices, fan it out, and spoon some of the sauce across the chicken.

Cottage Steak Pie

A beefy twist on a Scottish classic. Marinated beef tips, carrots, peas, and corn in a dark pepper gravy, topped with creamy, buttered mashed potatoes.

Ingredients

2 tbsp Olive Oil
3 lbs Beef Tips
1 large Onion, grated
1 large Carrot, grated
½ cup frozen corn
½ cup frozen peas
2 cloves Garlic, grated
2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/2 tbsp Tomato Paste
2 sprigs of fresh Thyme leaves
1 sprig fresh Rosemary, chopped
1 cup Red Wine
1 cup Chicken Stock

1 serving Granny's Mashed Potatoes (recipe below)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Heat the oil in a large pan until hot.

Season the beef tips and fry in the oil over moderate to high heat for 2-3 minutes.
Stir the onions and carrot, grate in garlic, be sure to grab fond
Add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and herbs and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Pour in the red wine and reduce until almost completely evaporated.
Add the chicken stock, bring to the boil and simmer until thickened. 

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Top w/ Granny's mashed potatoes, paprika, 1 T butter cut into slivers
Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown.

Granny's Mashed Potatoes

4-5 potatoes
2 tbsp. Butter
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. garlic
4 oz. sour cream
4 oz. cream cheese – softened
s&p to taste 

2 t paprika 

1 T butter
Peel, quarter, boil potatoes (20 min), drain
Blend potatoes with butter, milk, s&p until thick
Add garlic to taste
Add cheese & sour cream
Blend, and bake @ 350, 20-30 minutes

Campanelle al Prosciutto e' Gorgonzola

Campanelle pasta, crispy prosciutto, and pan seared chicken bites smothered in a Jack Gorgonzola sauce with sweet peas. 

Ingredients

1 lb. Chicken strips, seared, sliced/cubed 

8 slices bacon/prosciutto 

8 oz. Campanelle pasta

8 oz. Frozen peas

4 oz. Gorgonzola

4 oz. Colby jack 

2-3 cups milk 

4 Tbsp butter 

2 Tbsp flour 

1 tsp Oregano 

1 tsp Basil 

½ tsp cilantro 

2 Tbsp Parsley

1/4 c. Parm 

Directions

Fry prosciutto, combine butter, flour, and warm milk to form roux

Add cheeses, spices, chicken, peas

Toss with parsley and parm

Braised Short Ribs w/ Seared Gnocchi

Tender, 6-hour braised boneless short ribs in a rich gravy with pan seared potato gnocchi 

Ingredients

3 lbs. bone-in beef short ribs

Potato Gnocchi, to serve (store bought is fine, too) 

2 TBS paprika

2 TBS sea salt 

1 TBS garlic powder 

2 tsp black pepper 

2 tsp dried oregano 

1 1/2 tsp cayenne powder

2 TBS vegetable oil 

2 medium onions, peeled and diced 

1 bag baby carrots 

3 TBS flour 

2 TBS tomato paste 

2 c. red wine

8 sprigs thyme

2 c. crushed tomatoes

2 c. beef stock 

Directions

In a small bowl, stir together the paprika, sea salt, garlic powder, black pepper, oregano, and cayenne until evenly combined. Rub this spice mixture all over the short ribs, covering all sides. Heat the vegetable oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add as many short ribs as will comfortably fit, and brown on all sides, about 8 minutes total per rib. Once browned, transfer the ribs to a plate and set aside. Repeat until all the ribs are browned.

Discard all but 2 TBS of the fat from the pan, and return to the heat. Add the diced onions and carrots and cook for 5-7 minutes, until onions are translucent, stirring frequently. Add the flour and stir to coat the veggies, and allow to cook for 1 minute. Then stir in the tomato paste, and slowly add the red wine, stirring and allowing the mixture to thicken slightly between each addition. Once you’ve added all the wine to the pot, return the ribs to the pot. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and let simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.

After the ribs have simmered for 25 minutes, add the tomatoes and beef stock to the pan, stir to combine, and cover with a lid. Place in the oven and cook, turning every hour or so, until ribs are very tender, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove from oven, and skim as much fat from the surface as possible. If you want a more elegant preparation, remove the ribs, strain the sauce and discard the vegetables – this is optional, and we served this rustic-style. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper, and serve the ribs and their sauce over freshly cooked potato gnocchi.

Braised Beef & Mushrooms

Ingredients

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon butter
4 cups finely diced onions
2 large cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
2 teaspoons chopped fresh marjoram, or 1 teaspoon dried
2 pounds beef chuck, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon salt, divided
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 pounds cremini mushrooms, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup reduced-sodium beef broth
8 large shiitake mushroom caps, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2-3 teaspoons finely minced fresh tarragon, or dill for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Heat oil and butter in a large heavy casserole or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onions are soft and beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, paprika and marjoram.
Season beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt and plenty of pepper. Add the beef and cremini mushrooms to the pot; gently stir to combine. Add broth and cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid.
Transfer the pot to the oven and bake until the beef is very tender, 1 3/4 to 2 1/2 hours. Stir in shiitake mushrooms and continue baking, covered, for 15 minutes more. Remove from the oven, uncover and let stand, undisturbed, for about 15 minutes.
Skim or blot any visible fat from the stew. Transfer the beef and mushrooms to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Return the pot to the stove and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until the sauce just coats a spoon. Stir the beef, mushrooms and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt into the sauce and heat through, about 1 minute. Serve garnished with tarragon (or dill), if desired.

For Crock Pot

Combine all ingredients except tarragon and/or dill in ziplock bag. Freeze. Cook in crock pot 6-8 hours on low, adding broth as needed. Serve garnished with fresh tarragon or dill. 

Tomato Basil Bisque

Ingredients

6 c. (3 pints) cherry tomatoes

3 tbsp. olive oil

1.5 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

2 tbsp. butter

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 c. chopped onion

28 oz. diced tomatoes

4 c. chicken broth

3/4 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. basil

1.5 c. whipping cream

Directions

Heat oven to 400

Combine cherry tomatoes, 2 tbsp. oil, s&p

Toss to coat, place in single layer on baking sheet

Roast until shriveled, 35-40 minutes

Heat butter & 1 tbsp. oil in large pot

Add garlic & onion, saute 6 minutes

Add canned tomatoes, broth, thyme, basil, roasted tomatoes

Boil, then simmer, 40 minutes

Puree in processor, return to pot

Stir in cream

Warm until soup steams (not boils)

For Crock pot

Roast tomatoes per direction. Combine with remaining ingredients except cream in ziplock. Freeze. Cook in crock pot 6-8 hours on low. Halfway through, puree with hand blender. 30 minutes before serving, stir in cream.