Warm and Wonderful . . . .White Coq Au Vin

Winter has been flexing its muscle here for the last week with day time temps in the 30’s and nights in the teens. We have had some snow almost every day for a week and we are tired of it! Just saying . . . This dinner was the perfect antidote to our winter blues.

Much to Meg’s surprise and delight, Sue gifted herself with a new (and sharp) knife. Meg’s first comment when preparing to slice the vegetables was “Oh darn, I forgot the sharpener” where upon Sue smiled mischievously and whipped out the new weapon, aka the wondrous self-sharpening knife!

Self-sharpening wonder knife!

This white Coq Au Vin is a one pot wonder. It fills the house with enticing aromas for the entire time it is cooking and is a rich and comforting meal. The whole bottle of wine used to create this sauce combined with the vegetables is irresistible. You really need a crusty loaf of bread to dip in the sauce and wipe the bowl clean as we did. (Can you tell we loved it?)

Winter White Coq Au Vin

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
Prep Time:  15 min
Inactive Prep Time:  --
Cook Time:  1 hr 15 min
Level:  Easy
Serves:  4 servings

Ingredients

One 4 to 5-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
1 stick butter
EVOO, for drizzling
1 cup freshly peeled or defrosted drained pearl onions
3 to 4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 ribs celery heart with leafy tops, finely chopped
1 baby fennel or 1/4 small bulb, thinly sliced
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 large fresh bay leaf
One 750 milliliter-bottle dry white wine, such as white Burgundy
1 cup creme fraiche
2 to 3 cups chicken stock, if needed
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves
Baguette, warmed

Directions

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and dredge in the flour. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken, working in batches, and then transfer to a plate.

Add a drizzle of EVOO to the pot along with the remaining butter, onions, garlic, celery, fennel and leeks. Sprinkle the vegetables with some salt and pepper and cook until lightly browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Stir in the bay leaf and wine, return the chicken to the pot and cook, partially covered, over a low, rolling simmer, 30 minutes.

Stir in the creme fraiche, reduce to a simmer and continue to cook, 30 minutes longer. If the liquid gets too low, add the chicken stock. Transfer the chicken to a warm platter, and add the mustard and chopped tarragon at the last minute. Serve with warm baguette.

Notes
Cook's Note: Cool and store for a make-ahead meal. Bring to room temperature before reheating over medium heat.

Chicken browning in pot.

Chicken simmering in sauce with vegtables.

The finished dish!

This is mine! 

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

We used 4 large chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken and substituted fresh thyme for the tarragon, because it was what we had. We only used a total of 4 tablespoons of butter and we did not need any of the chicken broth. We also thickened the sauce, after removing the chicken at the end of the cooking time, with a roux of 2 tablespoons of flour in ½ cup of the cooking liquid and simmered it for another few minutes.

This is such an easy and quick to prepare meal that it would work mid-week and is also special enough for invited guests.

We baked small sour dough loaves for soaking up the lusciousness, but choose a crusty bread of your choice.

The recipe called for a white burgundy, and we learned that chardonnay from the Bourgogne region of France is another name for white burgundy. We chose a 2011 Macon-Villages, Les Mulots, recommended by Rebecca from Total Wines. This was nothing like some of the California chardonnays we’ve tasted. Although it was a bit over our usual wine budget at $15.99, we would buy it to drink with another meal. After tasting it, we chose the merlot to have with the meal.

Chateau St Jean Merlot, $8.99 on sale at Raley's.

Our parting thoughts for this year are of the fun we have every blog week, the wonderful shared meals, the new friends we have made through this blog and the anticipation of continuing this journey next year! Thanks for coming along!

Happy New Year!

Festive Shrimp Cannelloni

About a  week ago, we were setting up and decorating Sue’s mom’s Christmas tree. On her way from work Sue picked up a shrimp cannelloni dish at Costco to cook while we were busy with the tree. Score one for Costco, it was really good, lots of shrimp and a creamy sauce.  The addition of sautéed spinach with olive oil and garlic salt made it a delicious and very easy meal.  We liked it so much we decided to create our own variation for this blog.

This is not only a rich and delicious dish, but is also very festive and colorful on the plate. It can easily be made ahead, which makes it a great holiday recipe.

We chose to serve the cannelloni with our version of a wonderful spinach salad that we first had at “Black Rock Pizza” here in Sparks. We are sort of stuck on this salad, if truth be told, and always have it when we go there. Not to digress, but for all of you locals, they make a killer lemon meringue pie.

Cannelloni with Shrimp
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 12/15/2012

Prep time:  45 minutes
Cook time:  55 minutes
Serves:  6

Ingredients:

1 lb. 16-20 count (headless) shrimp in their shells
1 box no-cook lasagna noodles
½ c unbleached flour
¼ c butter plus butter for baking dish
1 quart whole milk
2 cloves garlic
32 oz.  part skim Ricotta cheese
4 T sun dried tomatoes, finely chopped
1 egg
1 large red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
1 c Fontina cheese, grated
1 t red pepper flakes
Zest of ½ lemon
2/3 c Parmesan cheese, grated
bunch of Italian parsley, chopped
freshly ground salt and pepper to taste

Roast the red bell pepper over a gas burner or under the broiler until black and blistered.  Put into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap until cool enough to handle.  Remove the charred skin and seeds.  Chop finely and set aside.

Bring the milk, one sliced garlic clove, and a teaspoon of salt to a boil.  Add the shrimp and cook until no longer transparent.  Remove shrimp and when cool enough to handle, remove the shells and return the shells to the cooking liquid and simmer, covered, over low heat for 15 minutes.  Remove the shells and strain the liquid. Depending on the size of shrimp you are using, cut them into ½ inch pieces, cover and set aside.

In a medium sauce pan melt the butter.  Add one clove of garlic, grated or pressed and stir until the garlic is slightly golden.  Add the flour and stir with a whisk to incorporate thoroughly.  Gradually add the milk to the flour, stirring constantly, until the roux starts to thicken.  You want the roux to be slightly thin at this point.  Add the grated Fontina cheese, chopped red pepper, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Ta Da, béchamel done!

Preheat oven to 375’.

 In a medium bowl combine the Ricotta, egg, chopped sun dried tomatoes, and ½ c chopped Italian parsley. Then add the shrimp. 

Butter a large (or medium) baking dish and spread about 1 cup of the Béchamel sauce on the bottom. (You want a dish wide enough to accommodate the length of the lasagna noodles.)
In a large pan bring 1 quart of water to a boil, add 1 t salt and add one or two of the lasagna noodles.  Watch carefully, and when the noodles become very pliable, about 5 minutes, remove to a plate and add two more.  Continue doing this until all are partially cooked.

Pat the top surface of each noodle with a paper towel before adding the filling. With a spoon, put about 1/3 cup of the ricotta/shrimp mixture down the middle of a lasagna noodle.  Overlap the long sides and lay, overlapping side down, in the béchamel sauce.  Continue filling the noodles and laying them into the baking dish, long sides touching, until the dish is full or you run out of cannelloni. 

Cover with the sauce and bake, covered, in a 375’ oven for 50 minutes.  Uncover, sprinkle with Parmesan and bake for 5 more minutes.

To serve, sprinkle with chopped Italian parsley.

Bechamel Sauce with Roasted Red Peppers

 

Shrimp Cannelloni

Spinach Salad with Pine Nuts and Parmesan
Serves 2 hungry women

Ingredients
approximately 3 oz. organic baby spinach leaves
½ cup pine nuts
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ cup shaved Parmesan cheese

Roast the pine nuts in a dry skillet until fragrant. Watch closely, as they will burn. Remove to a bowl.
In the same skillet, heat olive oil and garlic gently. Add the pine nuts and heat through.

Pour oil and pine nuts over the spinach and top with the shaved Parmesan.

Spinach Salad with Pine Nuts and Parmesan

Sgroppino

 

Ingredients

 

Haagen-Dazs Zesty Lemon Sorbet
Prosecco
Lemon peel for garnish

 

Put one scoop of the sorbet into a martini glass. Carefully pour Prosecco around the edge of the sorbet. Garnish and enjoy!

 

Sgroppino

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

 

We made this recipe our own by using a lot of our favorite ingredients, such as sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red bell pepper, lemon zest, red pepper flakes and Fontina cheese. You know, we can’t leave well enough alone.

Don’t be afraid of the teaspoon of red pepper flakes in the béchamel. This is not a spicy sauce. There is just a hint of heat.

We intended to add a touch of nutmeg to the béchamel, but forgot and added lemon zest instead to brighten the flavor. Picture us standing over the pot, taste testing, looking at each other, and saying in unison, “lemon zest”! 

 

The ends of our cannelloni touched the sides of our baking dish preventing the sauce from surrounding the ends. We strongly recommend that you allow room for the sauce. The pasta can easily be cut with a knife after par boiling.

This recipe will make 10-12 large cannelloni. Because of our pan sizes, we have left over filling. You could also make this into a great shrimp lasagna, which would save some prep time . . . . no rolling cannelloni.

Did we mention how much we love this salad? Maybe if we didn’t love it so much it would serve 4 dainty eaters. Just use our proportions and make as much as you want. (Pine nuts, Parmesan, garlic . . . you will want more!)

 

We so enjoyed the Prosecco from the last posting that we served it with this meal including dessert! Sorbet was a good ending for this rich dinner. It seemed only fitting to embellish it with some of the Prosecco.  Any flavor of sorbet with a dry sparkling wine would be good, but lemon seemed perfect for this meal.

We hope your holiday is merry and bright. Pop the cork on some bubbly and toast all the good things in your life, that is what we will be doing.

 

 

 

 

 

Party on Plate!

Can you believe it is December 1st?  We are kicking off the party season with a menu of appetizers. As a bonus, most of the prep work can be done ahead to make your party more fun for you!

Sue traditionally prepares a cioppino feast on Christmas Eve, and Meg brings appetizers. We frequently talk about appetizers, and you may have noticed that we usually have one while we are preparing the meal of the week. As it turned out, this was a really good dry run . . . we loved everything we fixed!

We tried a variety of new recipes, any one of which would impress your guests at a party. 

Rosemary Roasted Mixed Nuts

Rosemary Roasted Cashews
2003, Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved
Prep Time:  5 min
Inactive Prep Time:  --
Cook Time:  10 min
Level:  Easy
Serves:  approximately 3 cups

This recipe is almost directly from the Bar Nuts at Union Square Cafe in New York City and its wonderful cookbook of the same name.

Ingredients
1 1/4 pounds cashew nuts
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon melted butter

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Place the nuts on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until they are warmed through. Meanwhile, combine the rosemary, pepper, sugar, salt and butter in a large bowl. Toss the warm nuts with the rosemary mixture until the nuts are completely coated. Serve warm.

Tumbled Tomatoes

Tumbled Tomatoes
Reno Gazette Journal
Serves: 6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Standing time: 3 hours

Ingredients:
1 T herbs de Provence
1 t coarse sea salt
½ t dehydrated garlic
2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes

In a salt grinder or using a mortar and pestle, grind or pulverize the herbs de Provence, salt and garlic.  If you don’t have either, simply mix the ingredients together.  Set aside.

Wash the tomatoes in cold water, then remove all excess water, but do not dry.  In a large serving bowl, toss the tomatoes with the herb mixture until they are evenly coated.

Refrigerate the bowl, uncovered, until all water is evaporated, at least 3 hours and up to overnight.  “toss or “tumble” the tomatoes in the bowl occasionally until the herb and salt mixture has formed a crust on the tomatoes.  Serve chilled.

Marinated Dried Jack Cheese

Marinated Dry Jack
Raley’s “Extra” Magazine
Serves: 6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Chill: at least 1 hour

Ingredients:
1 c ½ inch cubes Rumiano Dry Jack Cheese
1/3 c olive oil
3 sprigs each fresh rosemary and thyme
1 t smoked paprika
¼ t crushed red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, sliced

Stir together all ingredients in a jar or medium bowl: cover and refrigerated for at least one hour and up to 2 weeks, stirring occasionally.

Drain and serve with toothpicks.

Crab Salad in Crisp Wonton Cups

Crab Salad in Crisp Wonton Cups
2007 Ellie Krieger, All Rights Reserved
Prep Time:  25 min
Inactive Prep Time:  --
Cook Time:  10 min
Level:  Intermediate
Serves:  6 servings (serving size is 3 pieces)

Ingredients
For the Wonton Cups:
Cooking spray
18 wonton wrappers, thawed (if frozen)
2 teaspoons canola oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
For the dressing:
1 teaspoon lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil
For the salad:
1/2 pound lump crabmeat, picked over
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1/2 cup finely diced mango
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 2 mini-muffin tins with cooking spray.

Brush the wonton wrappers with oil, and place each wrapper into a section of a mini-muffin tin. Gently press each wrapper into the tin and arrange so that it forms a cup shape. The wrapper will overlap itself and stick up out of the cup. Sprinkle with salt and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until browned and crisp. Remove from the tin and allow wrappers to cool.

Meanwhile whisk together the zest, lime juice, salt, pepper, and pepper flakes. Add the oil and whisk until well combined.

In a medium bowl, toss together the crabmeat, celery, mango, scallion and cilantro. Add dressing and toss to combine. Fill each cup with the crab salad and serve.

Mushrooms before cooking

Mushrooms hot out of the oven.

Artichoke and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
Prep Time:  30 min
Inactive Prep Time:  --
Cook Time:  20 min
Level:  Easy
Serves:  8 servings

Ingredients
24 large (2 1/2 to 3 inches wide) white mushrooms
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Salt and pepper
2 cans sliced or quartered artichoke hearts
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, eyeball it
Pinch dried thyme
Handful grated Parmesan
Handful parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 tub shredded Asiago cheese, 8 ounces

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place mushrooms in a large plastic food storage bag. Drizzle in just enough extra-virgin olive oil to coat – about 1/4 cup should do it. Shake the mushrooms to coat and scatter out onto a cookie sheet. Roast 10 minutes, round-side-up. Season with salt and pepper and flip over. Toss drained quartered artichokes with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, nutmeg, thyme, grated cheese, and parsley.

Generously fill the mushroom caps, mounding the filling up. Top the artichokes with shredded Asiago cheese and return to oven. Cook mushrooms 5 minutes more to melt cheese and set filling. Serve warm.

Wrapping shrimp

Jumbo Shrimp Wrapped in Prosciutto & Arugula

Jumbo Shrimp Wrapped with Arugula and Prosciutto
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
Prep Time:  12 min
Inactive Prep Time:  --
Cook Time:  --
Level:  Easy
Serves:  18 jumbo shrimp, feeding 6 to 8 guests

 

Ingredients
18 cooked, frozen jumbo shrimp, defrosted
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Coarse salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, eyeball it
2 cups trimmed arugula leaves
9 slices imported prosciutto, 1/3 pound
18 grape tomatoes
18 party picks, 3 or 4 inches long

Directions
Place shrimp in shallow dish and add lemon zest and juice, garlic, salt, pepper and extra-virgin olive oil. Toss shrimp to coat evenly with dressing. Arrange the arugula in piles of 2 or 3 leaves, working with 6 piles at a time. Pile up 3 slices of prosciutto and cut in half across.

To assemble the shrimp, place 1 shrimp on each pile of 2 or 3 arugula leaves then wrap the leaves up with the shrimp using the prosciutto. Assemble 6 pieces at a time, like an assembly line. Nest a grape tomato into the curve of the prosciutto wrapped shrimp and secure into place with a party pick.

Arrange the shrimp appetizers on a platter and don't forget to put out a small empty bowl near the shrimp platter to collect the tails of shrimp and party picks, once guests finish the appetizers.

 il Cortigiano Prosecco

 

 Our biased and unsolicited opinions:

Do not discard the marinade from the dry jack as the recipe directs. If you serve it as we did with crostini, you will want to drizzle the oil on the bread and eat it with the cheese. Next time we would drain the cheese and serve the oil on the side in a small pitcher. Cutting the crostini into 1 ½ inch pieces after toasting, would be about the right size to serve with the cheese. We also think that you could use another semi-hard cheese of your choice with equally good results. This would make an excellent hostess gift.

We used 20 count shrimp, which were the right size for wrapping and eating. We cooked them the night before in very salty water in their shells and flash cooled them in ice water with a little salt. They kept really well in a Ziploc in the refrigerator until we peeled them and put them in the marinade. The tomatoes are not essential to taste of these appetizers, but give them a definite “wow” factor on the plate.

We used 1 ½ - 2 inch mushrooms, which are a good size for an appetizer, and diced the artichoke hearts more finely than recommended. This gave us a better mix of ingredients in each mushroom. We think these could be made ahead, cooled, covered on the baking sheet, refrigerated and then uncovered and popped into a 300 degree oven until warmed through.

The crab cups are another do-ahead dish. Bake the wonton cups and store in a paper bag for up to 2 days. You can chop the mango, celery, cilantro and scallions, add the crab and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Make the dressing ahead and store separately.  When the party starts, combine the dressing and the crab mix. Fill the wonton cups as needed to keep the bottoms crispy.  They will go quickly.

We used almonds, walnuts and pecans for our nut mix instead of cashews. Watch them carefully when roasting.  They burn easily. You will be amazed at how much 1 tablespoon of butter enhances the flavor in this amount of nuts. We loved the combination of sweet, salty and spice!

We did not refrigerate the Tumbled Tomatoes after tossing them with the spice mix. Our climate is very dry and we left them out in a bowl, tossing them about 3 times within an hour. These are like little jewels and very addictive!

There is nothing more festive than popping the cork on a bottle of bubbly – in this case chilled il Cortigiano Prosecco from Total Wines. It was slightly over our $10.00 wine budget at $11.99, but what the heck, it was a party!
 

Cheers!