Recipes

Pork Chops in Nanette Sauce

4-6 center cut pork chops, depending on how many you want to feed

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 tbsp tomato pasta

1 tbsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Pat pork chops dry, season with salt and pepper
2. Put olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat
3. Once pan is hot, add pork chops. (Don’t overcrowd the pan so everything gets all brown and yumm)
4. Cook about 3 minutes, flip over and brown the other side.
5. Remove pork chops from the pan, place on a platter to the side.
6. Add cream to pan, scrape off delicious bits from the bottom of the pan
7. Add tomato paste, mustard.. stir until combined
8. Add chops back in, cook until they reach desired doneness.

 

Salmon with Lemon Caper Butter Sauce

Fish:

2 – 6 oz salmon fillets

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

salt & pepper to taste

Sauce:

3 lemons, juiced

2 tbsp capers with juice

4 tbsp butter

salt & pepper to taste

1. Heat butter and olive oil in a frying pan, over medium high heat
2. Once heated, add the salmon, skin side down. Season.
3. Let cook for 4 minutes (this may vary based on thickness)
4. Flip, season, cook for another 4 minutes
5. Remove from heat and set aside

Sauce:

1. Add lemon juice to the frying pan to deglaze.
2. Add butter, capers, and caper juice
3. Correct seasoning.
4. Once butter has melted, remove from heat and pour over fillets.

Swiss Chard

1 bunch swiss chard

1/3 cup olive oil

1 clove elephant garlic, or 3 cloves normal garlic, minced

1 shallot, minced

Salt

Pepper

Juice of 1 Lemon

1. Slice the stems from the center of the swiss chard. Chop the leaves into 1 1/2 inch strips.
2. Put the olive oil into a large pot, over medium heat.
3. Once the oil is hot, add garlic and shallot. Stir for approx. 1 minute.
4. Add the chard, being sure to stir often.
5. Continue to cook chard until it softens, but ensure that it doesn’t become mushy
6. Add salt and pepper.
7. Add lemon juice.

Ricotta and Mushroom Stuffed Ravioli in Sage/Brown Butter Sauce

Filling:

1 small container white mushrooms, stems trimmed

1/2 cup ricotta

2 sprigs fresh oregano

3 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Liberal amounts of salt/pepper

Pasta:

2 cups semolina flour (AP works too)

2 eggs

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp salt

Warm water

Sauce:

1/2 stick butter

5 or 6 big sage leaves

Salt/Pepper to taste

Juice of 1 lemon

Shaved Parmesan

To prepare dough:

I typically do this in a giant bowl because I don’t want to chisel egg crust off my counter, but, totally up to you.

Pour flour into a large bowl, make a well in the center. Dump in 2 eggs, slightly beaten, salt, and the olive oil. Use a fork to combine it all. It should most likely be rather crumbly at this point. Add small portions of water until the dough comes together. It should be somewhat sticky, but not super wet… like, you know.. dough. 😀  Let rest for 1/2 hour under a damp towel.

To prepare filling:

Chop mushrooms and garlic into food processor sized pieces. Process on low speed until things look minced but not like cat food. Chop the oregano by hand, add in the ricotta, salt, red pepper flakes. You may need to drain this a bit, as the mushrooms will likely give off some water which is ravioli-making’s arch nemesis.

To prepare ravioli:

Roll out flour into thin sheets. 1/8 inch at most. Hopefully at this point you’ve got some means to make the ravioli. I have one of those old fashion metal dye sets. I just slap the dough on it, put the filling in, brush a little water on the edges so they seal, Slap the cover on, and roll it out. It makes 12 at a time. I got it at a restaurant supply store, but I’m sure kitchen supply stores like Williams Sonoma will be happy to rip you off for one. 😀

Boil until it floats, strain it into a colander.

To prepare sauce:

Put butter into the pan, melt it. Add sage leaves. I just did a chiffonade on it. Add to butter.. As butter heats, it will start to brown. (Be sure to monitor it closely because if it burns, you pretty much have to start over. It’s not very yummy at that point.)   Once it starts turning slightly brown, dump in your raviolis. Toss in the sauce. Season. As if your life depends on it.. because it will be kind of bland at this point.

Squeeze the juice of the lemon over the pasta, take it off the heat, plate and sprinkle liberally with shaved parm.

It seems involved but really only takes about an hour.

Alfredo

1 cup heavy cream

7 oz grated parm (from the block, not the jar)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 shallot, sliced

1/8 cup sweet vermouth

salt/pepper to taste

16 oz dry or fresh pasta

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1. Set an ample amount of water on to boil for the pasta. The pasta should fit in the pan and be covered by a good bit of water
2. Put a medium sauce pan on the stove on medium heat, add butter.
3. Add shallot to the pan.
4. After a minute has passed, add garlic to the pan.
5. Once shallot has become slightly translucent, add in the splash of sweet vermouth
6. Let simmer for a minute, then add in cream, and turn heat down slightly so you don’t burn the cream.
7. As the cream heats up, start slowly stirring in the cheese.
8. As each bit melts, add more until the cheese is fully melted.
9. By this time, the water should be rapidly boiling, so add your pasta and follow the directions on the package.
10. You’ll want to taste the sauce at this point, and correct the seasoning.

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