Serves 6

• 2 lbs pork ribs – individually sliced
• 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons basil
• 1 lb peeled baby carrots
• 8 oz sliced portabello mushroom
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 6 oz marsala
• 1 lemon
• 6 tablespoons cayenne pepper
• 3 cloves garlic – sliced thin
• 1 lbs of a shaped pasta (farfalle, fussilli) just not long and thin
• 2 onion – diced
• 2 tablespoons butter – softened
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• water
• salt

1. Place the 6 quart pot on the stove and start to preheat it
2. When it is pretty hot, add the oil and begin browning the ribs in batches. Let the ribs get to a nice golden brown on all sides. Do not let it burn and do not over stuff the pan. If there are too many ribs, brown a few and then take them out of the pan onto the extra plate. This is most easily done with a set of tongs
3. After browning all the ribs, let them rest on the plate and turn the heat to medium.
4. Toss in the onions and let them caramelize.
5. Toss in the mushrooms, butter, and garlic and cook until soft.
6. Throw in the alcohol to deglaze the pan and squeeze in the lemon juice. Make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon or a spatula to get all the little bits of caramelized pork
7. Turn on the heat to high again and let the liquid reduce by half.
8. Add the ribs, Worcestershire, tomato paste, the maple syrup, diced tomatoes, basil, and the cayenne pepper. Stir well and simmer for 30 – 40 minutes.
9. Add the carrots and some salt to taste and simmer another 10 minutes.
10. Add about another 3 cups of water, two big pinches of salt. Bring to a boil.
11. Add your choice of pasta and cook according to the directions.  I recommend cutting off the heat halfway through because the pasta will continue to cook and expand.

This is actually really easy to make.  It tastes incredible. Look how beautiful it is.  It presents well, only takes a few minutes to make, so is perfect for “fancy” dinners.  We made it for the caregroup valentines dinner and was a huge hit.

I tend to use more shallots than most, so you can cut down if you want.  Also if the pepper crust is too strong for you, just dust off more of it before you put it in the pan.  Piece of advice about steaks.  Don’t cook them more than medium, or at worst medium well.  If you can bear to eat it nice and pink in the center (I personally like it redder) you’ll enjoy it much more.  We were in Quebec in a small restaurant and we overheard a nearby table ask their waiter for the steak to be prepared well-done.  The waiter responded, “Well done as in slightly pink in the center or like the sole of my shoe?”  Gives you a sense of how seriously the French take their food!

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 tbls freshly cracked black pepper
• 4 filet mignons (8 oz each)
• 1 tbl virgin olive oil
• 3 tbls butter
• salt
• 4 tbls diced shallots
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbl dijon mustard
• parsley for garnish

1. Sprinkle salt over both sides of the steaks
2. Press the steaks into the pepper to form a nice crust
3. Preheat oven to 250^oF
4. Add the oil and 1 tbls of butter to a large skillet.
5. When the butter sizzles, turn the heat to high and add the steaks.
6. After 2-3 minutes turn the steaks over to brown the other side.
7. Cook another 3-5 minutes on medium heat to desired donenes.
8. Slide them on a plate in the oven to keep warm.
9. Pour off any excess fat from the pan, add the remaining butter, shallots, and a little more salt.
10. Cook a few minutes until the shallots are soft, then add the cream and mustard.
11. Cook 30 seconds to a minute until the sauce thickens.
12. Plate your steaks and spoon some sauce over each steak.  Garnish with a little parsley.

I saw this recipe in Gourmet.  It’s really easy to make and multiplies really easily.  I usually use wingettes, but sometimes you can’t find this in the store.  If you can only get regular chicken wings, cut off the wing tip at the joint and discard.  Then cut the wing in half at the elbow.  Now you’ve got two nice little wingettes.

Gourmet lists this as an entree, but I always think of chicken wings as a side dish.  So if you want to serve it as a main it’ll probably make four servings instead. In terms of tasting the sesame seeds.  Toss them into a dry skillet over medium heat until the seeds get darker by a shade or two.

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 large garlic clove
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbls soy sauce
• 2 tbls hoisin sauce
• 2 tbls honey
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• pinch of cayenne
• 3 lbs wingettes
• 1 1/2 tbls toasted sesame seeds
• 1 scallion finely chopped – discard white portion

1. Preheat the oven to 425^oF. Place the rack in the upper third of the oven.
2. Line a shallow baking pan with foil and lightly oil.
3. Mince the garlic and use the salt and a heavy knife to turn it into a paste.
4. Mix the sesame oil, hoisin sauce, honey and cayenne pepper with the garlic in a larg bowl.
5. Add the wingettes and toss to coat.
6. Arrange the wingettes in the pan in a single layer. and roast for 35 minutes.  Turn once.
7. Transfer to the serving bowl and toss with sesame seeds and scallions.

I’m still not entirely sure what to call this dish.  I made it last night at a whim and I figured I’d just go ahead and post it. I served it with a side of rice, and the type of sausage I think you could change as you want.  I had chorizo on hand so that’s what I threw in.  It’s almost like a Chicken Madeira, but it’s not quite.  If you think of something better let me know.

If you increase the amount of chicken, you probably don’t really need to increase the amount of chicken stock.  But if you make more than 6 chicken breasts you’ll probably need another pan, at which point you might as well just double the whole recipe.

edit: ooo how about Braised Chicken and Garlic

Servers 4 – 6

Ingredients

• 4 – 6 chicken boneless breasts
• 10 cloves garlic (slice off the woddy end)
• 1 can chicken broth (low sodium recommended)
• 6 oz chorizo sausage (julliened)
• 1 medium onion (cut into strips)
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 10 oz spinach
• 6 oz mushrooms
• 1 tbs butter

1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Salt and pepper the chicken on both sides and brown in a skillet with some olive oil over high heat.
3. Remove chicken after about 2 minutes per side
4. Reduce the skillet to low and add the butter and onions.  Season with salt and pepper.
5. Once the onions are soft add the chorizo and cook about 5 minutes.
6. Add the mushrooms and garlic and sautee for 3 minutes on medium.
7. Turn the heat to high and deglaze the pan with the chicken broth.
8. Add the thyme and bay leaf
9. Return chicken to the skillet, cover and place in the oven
   1. Make sure you are using an oven safe pan.  It should have a solid metal handle, no plastic or rubber!
10. Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes.  The chicken broth will keep the chicken moist.
11. Remove the chicken from the skillet, and place the skillet on high heat.
12. Reduce the broth by about half, and adjust seasoning
13. Add the spinach and cook until just soft.  Plate the mixture over the chicken.