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I had some leftover thin sliced chicken breasts I picked up on Saturday at Pastosa Ravioli in Manasquan, NJ. The family pack was only $3.99/lb. and I found another recipe from Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen called “Breast of Chicken in a Light Lemon-Herb Sauce in which to use the chicken breasts.
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 I follow Lidia Bastianich on Facebook and her February 3rd post she had a recipe for Oven-Braised Pork Chops with Apples, Onions and Dried Cherries. For me, apples with pork is a classic, but adding dried cherries upped the game for today’s leaner pork.
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I recently came into possession of Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen cookbook by Lidia Bastianich and found some interesting recipes. One that caught my eye was Pan-Seared Steak with Pizzaiola Sauce.  The recipe seemed very straightforward and pretty easy to do. This week at Whole Foods, they have a special on strip steak ($10.99/lb.), which made creating this dish even more inviting.

The ingredients for the recipe include one red ($2.99/lb)  and one yellow pepper ($3.99/lb.) , white button mushrooms ($2.99/lb), fresh basil, Italian plum tomatoes. Lidia’s recipe suggests San Marzano tomatoes. I found  mine at Wegmans for $3.99 per can and my produce came from Delicious Orchards, Colts Neck

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As I mentioned in a previous post, Whole Food runs their weekly specials from Wednesday to Tuesday and in their most recent ad, I noticed they had 85% lean ground beef on special for $3.99/lb. (prime $3.59/lb.). Great, what type of meatloaf can I create this time? After browsing epicurious.com, I found a delicious looking recipe from Ian Kranuer, formerly of Gourmet Magazine and who currently runs The Farm Cooking School in Pennsylvania. I became familiar with Ian when his cooking show briefly ran on public broadcasting.
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The first month of 2019 is already in the book. Following the holidays, my husband was sick with the flu for a few days, feeling bad enough to stay home from work. During that time, he didn’t have much of an appetite and following this, we lost my aunt. As my mother used to say, “Life goes on.” So, on the day we buried my aunt I celebrated my birthday.
 
Following my aunt’s funeral, my children and their spouses and my brother and his wife went to lunch at Ristorate Da Benito in Union, NJ. A friend of my son-in-law’s recommended this restaurant. We arrived at approximately 1 PM and it was bustling with customers. The wait staff was attentive without being overly intrusive. Occasionally the chef would come out from the kitchen to check out the dining room and talk to the regulars.
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Recently I had to purchase a bunch of basil for a recipe and found myself with quite a bit left. I dug through my recipe box and found one for stuffed flank steak. I don’t recall how long I’ve had it or where it came from as it has been in my recipe for quite a while. and my handwriting was legible, which doesn’t happen too often these days. Also, I had flank steak in my freezer, which made trying this recipe even more enticing. The stuffing consisted of fried bacon pieces and some of the drippings, basil leaves, garlic and fresh tomatoes.
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Last year Buon Appétit Magazine selected Nonesuch in Oklahoma City as the best new restaurant for 2018. Most of us will not be traveling to Oklahoma City and it will be extremely difficult to secure one of the 20 seats that are available for their tasting menu. However, on January 5, 2019, the Wall Street Journal published an easy recipe from Nonesuch chefs Jeremy Wolfe and Colin Stringer for rib-eye steak with herb sauce and honey-roasted carrots.

​This recipe caught the eye of my husband and I was finally able to make it Saturday night. If you are looking for a good old-fashioned type butcher, with excellent quality meats, try Pastosa Ravioli in Manasquan. This is the second time I purchased a steak from them and it was outstanding. The rib-eye for 2 ($17.99/lb.) was worth every cent. Carrots were the main vegetable, but I also made an herb sauce of green beans, garlic, fresh parsley and basil. The vegetables came from Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck where I find their quality and display size to be exceptional.
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​I started my food blog almost three years ago. Since that time, I have delved into my extensive recipe collection, my cookbooks and online files to find new recipes for my blog. When I do prepare an old recipe, my husband says, “We haven’t this in awhile.  All the recipes for this blog have been tasted by my husband and me and sometimes my children and their spouses.
 
I was at Wegmans on Monday hoping to pick up a three pound package of ground turkey, but they only had one pound packages available. Since I had nothing planned for supper, I decided I would purchase the one pound 
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The time between Christmas and New Years television becomes a vast wasteland. While channel surfing one evening, I came across a fairly new episode of America’s Test Kitchen. I love this show as it shows you how they improve the outcomes of recipes or they develop their own, information about the best kitchen gadgets/tools/products/appliances to purchase and does taste testing’s of assorted food items. On this particular night the host, Julia Collin Davison, watched as Becky Hayes prepared Turkey Meatloaf with Brown-Sugar Ketchup Glaze. 
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​Have you noticed how popular cannoli chip and dip trays have become? You couldn’t miss the trays at Wegmans on New Year’s Eve. Wegmans charges $17 for their 26 ounces tray. The ingredients to make the cannoli shells may even be in your pantry. Besides the usual ingredients, you’ll need red or white wine, shortening (Crisco), confectionery sugar, mini chocolate chips and whole milk ricotta. I went to Wegmans this morning and picked up a 15 ounce container of Galbani Whole Milk Ricotta for $2.79. I had leftover white wine in my refrigerator. I was ready to go!


​meet donna

A former teacher, shop-a-holic, empty-nester redefining quick, family approved dinners.

​If you have questions or comments, click on the envelope icon above to contact me directly. 

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