"Philly" Cheese Steaks

We had some beef braciole that we needed to use and decided on this for a quick dinner. The beef was sliced into thin strips and flash fried. At the same time we sauted 2 medium onions, sliced and a green bell pepper. Mushrooms would be a nice addition if you had them. Make a sandwich out the the meat, onions and peppers. Add cheese; the cheese is melted at our favorite place in Philidelphia, URL at the bottom. I also like Worchestershire sauce on mine but you can use any condiment you wish. Delicious sandwich...and make sure you go to Jim's if you get to Philly. http://www.jimssteaks.com/SouthStreet.html

Pork Shanks with Savory Bread Pudding

We got some pork shanks from our CSA. We have had veal shanks and lamb shanks but never pork. They turned out very similar to veal shanks but at about 1/3 the price. We will have them again. First, coat the shanks with seasoned flour and brown them in 3T olive oil. Remove them and add to the pan a medium diced onion, roughly chopped carrot and a rib of celery. Continue cooking until the onion is soft, perhaps 5 min. Add 2 cloves minced garlic and 2T tomato paste. Deglaze the pan with 1/2C white wine and 1C chicken stock, or, use all chicken stock. Add a bouquet garni containing rosemary, thyme, tarrigon and cloves. Return the shanks to the pan, cover and place in a 275F oven for about 2 hr. While the meat is cooking, prepare the bread pudding but using some dried stale bread and processing it to make bite-sized pieces. We had some leftover corn bread that we used but any bread will do. Add the bread to a sauted medium onion. Beat 2 eggs together with 1C cream and add to the bread mixture. Allow the mix to stand for about 15 min to allow the bread to absorb the cream mixture. Place in a 350F oven for an hour or until the top becomes brown and crusty. When you raise the temp of the oven (assuming you dont have two), put the shanks on low heat on the top of the stove and continue to cook for an additional hour. Doing this completes cooking of both dishes at about the same time. Strain the sauce on the shanks and serve on the side. We served steamed cauliflower also. This dish would stand up to a big red wine but we drank a chilled dry white. Emma enjoyed the bone!

Cacio e Pepe, sort of

Cacio e Pepe is a classic Italian dish which consists of pasta, ground pepper and cheese. It looks a lot like the last post but has an entirely different taste. In addition we added some left-over lobster and chopped basil just because we had it. The purists among you are agast, we are sure. The dish goes together very quickly. While the pasta is cooking, saute 2T freshly ground black pepper in 2T olive oil until you smell the peppers aroma. When the pasta is done, drain it, reserving two 1/2C portions of the cooking water. Add the 1/2C water and the pasta to the saute pan with the pepper and oil. Add 1/2C grated parmesan cheese and 1/2C grated havarti cheese and toss. This is where we added the pieces of lobster but the Cacio e Pepe is wonderful by itself. The sauce with the pepper is very tangy and has a wonderful pepper flavor. The bottle of Tabasco is an error; it was not added to the dish.

Lobster and Pasta with Feta Cheese Clam Sauce

We wanted to have lobster for dinner without the mess of dealing with the shells at the table. For an appetizer we baked 3 doz. clams and 2 doz. mussels in a 500 degree oven. The clams take longer so they went in first and after 10 min. the mussels were added for another 5 min. The shellfish were removed and the generated broth was reserved. All a medium sized diced scallion, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1T dried thyme and 2T chopped parsley to the broth and simmer gently while you enjoy the shellfish. We steamed the lobsters for about 20 min (Steamed in a small amount of water rather than boiling a big pot full). Cook your favorite pasta according to directions. Just before serving add 2 oz. of crumbled feta cheese to the broth mix, stirring until uniform. Return the drained pasta to the sauce pan and toss to coat. We served the lobster and pasta with steamed green beans and a tomato, cucumber and fresh basil salad. The sauce was perfect and the messy lobster shells were not missed.

Savoy Cabbage with Spicy Italian Sausage

We got a savoy cabbage from our CSA, Fresh Fork and decided on this recipe to try it. Start by pricking holes in your favorite sausage links (we used spicy italian) and marinating them in 1/2C red wine with 2 cloves minced garlic. For two sausages, seperate about 1/2 lb. cabbage leaves, wash in salt water and rinse. Saute 1/4C diced onion in 2T olive oil and 2T butter. When the onions are tender, add the sausage which has been drained. Reserve the marinade. Continue cooking until the sausage is brown. Add one 14 oz. can diced tomatoes and the reserved marinating liquid and heat through. Slice the cabbage leaves into manageable size pieces and add to the pan. Cover and cook until the cabbage is wilted and tender, about 30 min. We served the dish with simple boiled redskin potatoes. Very tasty dish. The link for Freshfork is www.freshforkmarket.com

Winter Vegetable and Apple Soup

This recipe was supposed to start with sweet potatoes but we continue to look for winter squash recipes so we adapted it to butternut squash. Start by cutting a large butternut squash in half and removing the seeds. Brush it wih oil and bake it at 350 degrees for 45 min. Remove it and set aside to cool. While it is cooling, saute 1 diced medium onion, 2 cloves of garlic and one med/large apple which has been seeded, peeled and diced and 1T of ginger. When the apple gets soft put the mixture into a food processor and add the cooled squash which has been diced. Add one chipotla pepper taken from a can of chipotlas in adobo sauce. Be careful with this. Even a carefully seeded chipotla in adobe can add a lot of heat. Leave it out if you wish but it does give the soup a nice "bite".Process until it reaches the desired consistancy, chunky or smooth. Bring to the desired thickness by adding stock, either chicken or vegetable and add some crumbled cooked bacon. Garnish with chive batons. We served it with a nice crusty bread and cheese. We do intend to try the recipe with sweet potatoes and acorn squash.