recipes

Ingredients and Instructions for Tomato Basil Sauce

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup finely diced or shredded carrot
• 2 cans San Marzano tomatoes (56 ounces)
• kosher salt to taste
• small handful basil leaves, torn in pieces

In sauce pain, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until lightly brown and soft. Add carrots and tomatoes. Stir to combine. Cook over low heat until it has thickened to an oatmeal like consistency. Season with salt and add basil.

Get your triple reduction on! We learned this sauce at a cooking school and love making it as a special treat. We rarely cook steaks but this sauce best accompanies grilled red meat. The chefs in the class made the point that you should never cook with wine you wouldn't drink. Since this sauce essentially concentrates all the flavors from a bottle of wine, it makes sense to choose a low-cost but tasty red wine. Malbec, anyone?

Red Wine Reduction Sauce Ingredients

• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup beef trimming
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 2 shallots, peeled and diced
• 1 garlic clove, smashed
• 1 bottle good quality red wine
• 1 tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1.5 cups demi glace

Red Wine Reduction preparation instructions

In a small saucepan, add butter and melt to foam. Add beef and cook until brown and then add shallots, carrots, celery, and garlic. Stir occasionally until veggies are golden brown and soft. Add 1/3 of the wine and reduce almost completely. Add second 1/3 of wine and reduce. Add remaining bottle of wine and the tomatoes and reduce until only a thick glaze remains at the bottom of the pan. Always reduce red wine over a low flame to capture as much flavor as possible. Add the demi glace and bring to simmer. Skim off impurities and discard. Keep simmering until the sauce coats the back of a metal spoon and then strain with a fine mesh strainer.

Greg and I have been obsessed with our local french bakery Trompeau so I thought it time to try making baguettes at home. When perfect baguettes for $2 give me an excuse to stop by Trompeau, I wonder if baking at home is worth it.

Instructions for making french style baguettes

In small bowl, dissolve 1 tsp yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Combine 4-5 cups flour and 2 tsps salt. Add yeast mixture and 1.5 cups water. Mix dough until you can knead it. Knead on lightly floured board for 6-10 minutes. Put in bowl and cover with damp towel. Let rise until doubled, around an hour. Punch down dough and divide into four pieces. Roll each piece into baguette shape and let rise until doubled. Preheat oven to 450. Brush baguettes with mixture of 1 egg beaten and mixed with 1 tbsp cold water. Score loaves with a sharp knife. Pour 2 cups hot water into a pan and place into preheated oven to provide moisture. Bake for 15 minutes and lower temp to 400 and bake for 5-10 minutes more or until golden brown.

Ingredients for Hazelnut Pumpkin Pie

• 2/3 cups flour
• pinch salt
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 6 tbsp butter
• 1.5 tbsp ice water
• 1/3 cup ground hazelnuts
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp soft butter
• 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup unsweetened canned pumpkin
• 1 tbsp flour
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup heavy cream

Preparation instructions for pie crust

Put flour, salt and sugar into food processor and mix until just combined. Cut cold butter into pieces and add to bowl. Add water and combine for 15 seconds. The dough should just hold together. Wrap dough in waxed paper and put in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Roll out pastry and put into pie pan, poking the bottom with fork. Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

Hazelnut Pumpkin Pie filling instructions

Preheat oven to 450 and combine hazelnuts, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and butter. Spread over the partially cooked pie crust. Mix together eggs, pumpkin, flour, remaining brown sugar, spices, salt and cream. Put into pastry shell. Turn temperature to 325 and bake for 45 minutes.

Ingredients for Bruschetta Chicken

• 1/2 cups flour
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 chicken breast halves
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp butter or margarine, melted
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 3 tbsp minced fresh basil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preparing bruschetta chicken

Place flour and eggs in separate shallow bowls. Dip chicken in flour, then in eggs. Place in a greased baking dish. Combine the Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and butter, sprinkle over chicken. Loosely cover baking dish with foil. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Uncover, bake 5-10 minutes longer or until top is browned. Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients in a bowl. Spoon over the chicken. Return to the oven for a few minutes until the tomato mixture is heated through.

Ingredients for Chicken in Basil Cream

• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 4 chicken breast halves (1 pound)
• 3 tbsp. butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 jar (4 ounces) sliced pimientos, drained
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup minced fresh basil
• 1/8 tsp pepper

Instructions for preparing Chicken in Basil cream

Place milk and bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls. Dip chicken in milk, then coat with crumbs. In a skillet over medium high heat, cook the chicken in butter on both sides until juices run clear, about 10 minutes. Remove and keep warm. Add the broth to the skillet. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stir to loosen browned bits from pan. Stir in cream and pimientos, boil and stir for a minute. Reduce heat. Add parmesan cheese, basil and pepper. Cook and stir until heated through. Pour over the chicken. Serves 4.