Chicken Marengo

Theoretically, this is the meal that was prepared for Napoleon after his successful battle in Italy at Marengo. This is probably PR hype from restaurants in Paris hyping the victory for sales. But, it’s a great dish, and one I wanted to prepare on the last of our cool nights. In about 1/3 cup of hot olive oil, cook your chicken. I did 4 thighs and 5 drumsticks, as they nest well in a my large skillet. Add a bundle of parsley, a bundle of thyme and a handful of garlic cloves. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Flip, cook 10 more minutes. Flip, cook 5 more. Remove the chicken and cover it. Remove the shallots and herbs too. Add 1/3 cup of flour to the oil and drippings and stir till you get a good rich roux. Add 2 cups of beef broth...

Muffuletta Omelette!

On a recent canoe trip I provisioned myself with muffuletta sandwiches for lunch. Northern Neck Muffuletta It seemed only natural to use the unused fillings to make an omelette upon my return. It worked out pretty good. I sauteed some onion and red bell pepper. I added the diced deli meats and crisped them up a bit. I mixed four eggs, a splash of milk and a hint of creole seasoning nand poured it on top. Once cooked halfway, I tilted the pan and lifted the omelette to let the uncooked eggs run underneath. Rotate and repeat. When the bottom is done, flip the omelette.On one half add the olive tapanade, on the other, the cheese slices. Fold and cut in half for two omelettes. Top with a lattice of Swiss Cheese...

Lamb & Yam

It’s Spring…that means LAMB! This is my Lamb and Yam meal. We have four nice lamb chops. Marinaded in olive oil, Italian seasoning, garlic, lemon juice, black pepper and kosher salt for about 3 hours. Meanwhile, a beautiful sweet potato air fried at 400° for 40 minutes. Pan sear the chops on a medium high heat, you want a slight warm pink center, so about 4 minutes each side and let rest 5 minutes. We did our in a cast iron pan. Get that olive oil just smoking before you put in the chops. I love my Moroccan olive oil. Served with a nice bright side...

Sea Bass Florentine

In a bowl we mixed a couple handfuls of baby spinach, a couple heaping tablespoons of Greek yogurt, a handful of fine shredded parmigiana Reggiano, a tablespoon of minced garlic, about a quarter of a diced orange bell pepper and a few tablespoons of minced sweet onion. I did my best to fillet a beautiful sea bass provided by my friend Jim Goetz. I actually did come up with two decent fillets. The first fillet went down in a glass baking dish lined with foil and coated with Moroccan olive oil. This was seasoned with Kevin’s Cajun Seasoning (low salt) and black pepper. Onto this went half the spinach/yogurt filling. Then the top fillet, and this was covered with the rest of the filling. This baked in a pre-heated 370° oven for 35 minutes, and then the oven...

Peposo, Tuscan Black Pepper Beef

I know I cook some complex meals. But this one is SO easy…but you just need to give it time. Time is what makes this fantastic. Peposo, Tuscan Black Pepper Beef This is the first time I’ve cooked this. I’ve done braised beef in red wine before, and never really cared for it. The secret here is…just let it cook till it is done. 3 Hours. My previous attempts resulted in tough meat that tasted like red wine. Do it right, and it ends up tender and full of flavor. The history is that this was made by Italian tile workers who needed their cheap meats to taste better. So they slow cooked them in red wine, garlic and herbs for hours to have an edible meal. So here we have a couple pounds of round chuck, cut in ‘fist-full’ pieces. These...