Osso Bucco with Smashed Potatoes

Osso Bucco! Even the name is appetizing. It actually means "bone with a hole" but with that name it wouldn't look that great on a menu.

Now, why bone with a hole? Well Osso Bucco is made with Veal shanks. Cross sections of the lower part of the veal leg with the bone. So looking at the piece

Baklava

I am Greek. Do I need to say anything more? Baklava runs in my veins. I have been eating it for as long as I can remember.

Baklava is actually very easy to make. Its just a bit tedious and takes some time but the results are worth the effort.

Baklava is layers of phyllo pastry and nuts with a honey based syrup.

The quantities of your ingredients will depend on the size of your oven dish. I used a large roasting dish so I used 2 packages of phyllo, 2 pounds of nuts, 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1 pound of unsalted butter.

Using a brush coat the bottom of your dish with some butter.

Start placing 2 sheets of phyllo on the bottom of your dish and brushing the whole surface with butter. Repeat twice more for a total of 6 sheets buttering every second sheet.

Now add a layer of chopped nuts mixed with cinnamon. I use a mixture of walnuts, almonds and pecans. I chop them but not too fine as I like to taste fairly large pieces of nut when I'm eating Baklava.

Add 2 sheets of phyllo and brush with butter.

Repeat the process of layers of phyllo , butter and nuts until you are out of nuts.

Cover with 6 sheets of phyllo buttering every 2 sheets. Most recipes call for butter on every sheet but I find it too rich. Feel free to do so though. When you're done use a sharp knife to cut into square or diamond shaped pieces. Try not to cut all the way through. You will do so later. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.

The syrup is the key to a good baklava and the key to a good syrup is the honey. Use your favorite honey and you will not be disappointed. The recipe is simple. 2 parts water, 2 parts sugar and 1 part honey. Boil the water, add the sugar and the honey and simmer for 20 minutes. I add the peel from one lemon while simmering but you can add a vanilla bean or extract if your wish. Allow to cool and poor over the hot baklava immediately after taking it out of the oven. That's it. Allow the whole thing to cool. Now you can cut the pieces through and remove them from the dish. When storing cover loosely as a tight seal will render the pieces soggy.

Enjoy!

Pastitsio

Growing up, this was one of my favorite meals. When my mother made this there were many happy faces, not to mention bellies, at my house.

This is a variation on the famous Greek Moussaka. Instead of vegetables you use pasta.

Start with your favorite version of meat sauce. I use my Bolognese.

Prepare some of your favorite large cylindrical shaped pasta. I use Rigatoni, Penne or Bucatini.

Oil the bottom of an oven dish and spread half of your cooked pasta to form a layer on the bottom of your dish. Sprinkle a good amount of grated cheese over the pasta. a salty Romano or Parmegiano is good here although the authentic Greek recipe calls for Mitzithra ( a hard version of Ricotta). Pour the meat sauce over the pasta to form a layer of sauce then spread the remaining pasta and sprinkle some more cheese.

Now for the tricky part. What makes or brakes this recipe is the Bechamel sauce that goes over the last layer of pasta.

I prepared this for a large oven dish so adjust the ingredients to fit yours. Start by melting some 1/2 cup butter over a medium-high heat. Add 1/2 cup flour and stir rapidly until all the flour is smoothly mixed (this is called a roux). Continue to cook the roux for a minute or so but don't allow it to brown. Add 2 litres of whole milk and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly to prevent the milk from burning. It will thicken to a custard consistency. If after reaching a boil it is still not thick enough prepare some more roux and add it to the milk until it thickens.

Separate the yolks and whites of 6 eggs. Lightly beat the yolks. In the container with the yolks add about 2 ladles full of the hot custard mixture and incorporate with the eggs. (This is called tempering the eggs. It prevents the eggs from turning into scrambled eggs when you put the in the hot custard). Add the yolks to the custard and mix. Remove from the heat. Add some salt and pepper and some grated cheese. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Pour the whites into the custard and fold them in (do not mix rapidly) until incorporated. You now have Bechamel sauce. Pour the sauce over the last layer of pasta.

Put into a 400 degree oven for about an hour or until the surface is golden brown and a knife inserted into the sauce comes out clean.

Kali Orexi.

Enjoy!

Sausage Soup

A good friend of mine gave me this idea for a hearty soup.
To start, saute some carrots and onions in some olive oil over medium heat until softened.
Add 3-4 sausages (your choice of flavor, I used mild Italian) sliced into bite sized pieces.
Brown the sausages and then add some chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper and add some of your favorite dry herbs ( I used thyme). Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 30 minutes. Add 3-4 medium potatoes diced into half inch cubes. Cook for another 10 minutes. I then added some short macaroni because my kids will eat anything with macaroni in it but this is optional. The final ingredient is some leafy greens. I used baby bok-choy but spinach, Swiss chard or even lettuce will do. It adds color and a different texture. Cook for a few more minutes until the greens and or pasta is cooked to your liking.
This is a great one dish meal for a cold winter evening. The great thing about this soup is that pretty much every ingredient can be replaced with what you have available. You can use any sausage you like, any kind of greens, you can add celery, squash or even zucchini and you can substitute chicken stock for beef stock. Let your imagination run wild and enjoy.

Pork a l'orange

This is an improvised dish based on a similar dish using a wine sauce instead of orange.
It's quite simple. Start with a pork tenderloin. Cut it in 2 inch thick pieces. I marinated it in some whole grain Dijon mustard but you can just season it with salt and pepper.
You then sear it in a pan over high heat on all sides until brown. You then pour a mixture of orange juice, orange zest and some sweet and sour sauce over the pork and cook over medium-high heat until the sauce reduces to the consistency of a thick syrup. That's it.
The proportions of juice, zest and sweet and sour sauce will depend on whether you prefer sweet or tangy so try it out. I used about a cup and a half of juice, 4 tablespoons sauce and the zest of half an orange. Enjoy!

Pad Thai

Whenever I go to an Asian noodle restaurant I always have Pad Thai. My six year old son Mack also enjoys it quite a bit. A couple of days ago it came up in a conversation and I said I would make some. He offered to help. He likes getting involved in the kitchen so I made this a little activity for him and I. He helped quite a bit and also took the picture of the plated dish.

So here we go.

Boil some water and immerse a package of flat rice noodles in it. Turn off the stove and let the noodles soak for about 6-7 min. Rinse with cold water, drain and set aside.

You will need some shrimp (chicken also works). Mack helped me peel about a pound.

Combine about 1/4 cup Asian fish sauce (most supermarkets have them in the Chinese food section) and the juice of two limes.

In your largest pan or a wok heat some canola or peanut oil. Add the shrimp and two cloves of chopped garlic and some red pepper flakes ( I kept these out because I was making this for the kids also). Cook for about a minute. Add three slightly beaten eggs and let it sit for a minute so the eggs can set. Then stir with the shrimp.

Here's Mack doing a great job stirring.

Add the sauce and lime juice, a cup of bean sprouts, 1/4 cup green onions and 1/4 cup chopped unsalted peanuts. Then add the noodles. Lift and stir until all ingredients are well blended.

Transfer to a large warm platter and garnish with some more bean sprouts, cilantro, green onions, basil and some more chopped peanuts.

Mack garnished the plates and took pictures also.

I added some red Thai pepper sauce to kick it up a notch. Yummy.

Everyone loved it.
Get your kids to help you in the kitchen. They will feel involved and will likely enjoy what they eat more. Here's a chance to get them to eat better also. It also exposes them to something new. Mack now wants to be a chef when he grows up!

Crispy Chicken Breast with a Roasted Pepper Coulis

I was looking for a way to make chicken that would be both tasty for me and my kids.
I thought of a friend who told me about a recipe she makes with pecans and cranberries but I had neither in my kitchen. So I looked around and made this one up.

I chopped up some roasted unsalted peanuts. I added a some instant oat flakes some brown sugar and salt and pepper.
I then dipped the chicken breasts in some egg ( I used egg whites but whole eggs slightly beaten is good also). I then rolled the chicken in the above mentioned mixture.
I put them in the oven and voila, crispy tasty chicken breasts. I cooked them in a 450 degree oven for 10 min using "trivection" (more on this in a separate post). It would normally take about 30 min in a 400 degree oven.

For the optional coulis I roasted red and yellow peppers in the oven until the skin became almost black and detached from the flesh of the peppers. I removed the skin and seeds after they cooled down. I then put them in the food processor and turned it on. While it was running I gradually added some olive oil until it reached the consistency I was looking for. I then added some balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.
I served it with the chicken breasts but the kids ate the chicken without the sauce. Enjoy.