Cooking With Michele® » Sauces

Plum Sauce

Michele — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:18:24 +0000

There is only one thing more prolific than zucchini in my yard this year, and that would be plums.
Read the rest of Plum Sauce

Stumble this Post | Share on Facebook | Add to Del.icio.us

Meatless of LessMeat? What’s Your Strategy?

Michele — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:18:01 +0000

Remember the good old days? You know, that era when you could chow down on an enormous piece of beef and not feel guilty about it? I can distinctly remember the day I fell in love with meat – at the roast beef carving station at the Holiday Inn we stayed at when I was four and we were moving to Indiana. It was rare and juicy, and I helped myself to unlimited “seconds”. That was before
Read the rest of Meatless of LessMeat? What’s Your Strategy?

Stumble this Post | Share on Facebook | Add to Del.icio.us

Pork Blade Steak with Tarragon-Mushroom Cream Sauce

Michele — Mon, 23 May 2011 12:47:27 +0000

Wow, is that title a mouthful or what?! Sometimes you’ll see bloggers separate dishes like this into multiple posts, but I ate this together, so I’m posting it together too.Let’s start with the sauce, which begins with caramelizing mushrooms.
Read the rest of Pork Blade Steak with Tarragon-Mushroom Cream Sauce

Stumble this Post | Share on Facebook | Add to Del.icio.us

Penne with Lamb and Pork Ragu

Michele — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:56:32 +0000

My husband accuses me sometimes of getting weird with food – combining too many unusual ingredients together for his taste. Personally, though, I like to take a risk, try new things, see what works and what doesn’t. Rarely do I think it’s so bad I toss it, and usually I surprise myself by loving it – like this ragu sauce.
Read the rest of Penne with Lamb and Pork Ragu

Stumble this Post | Share on Facebook | Add to Del.icio.us

Sundried Tomato and Almond Pesto – and free olive oil!

Michele — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:50:44 +0000

It’s olive oil giveaway time – read on for details!

If you’ve been reading this blog for any time at all, you know that I’m all about eating in season. I rarely buy a a tomato in the winter, I hate being forced to pay $4 for a small package of limp herbs off-season, and I cringe with guilt every time I know something has been flown thousands of miles to get to my grocery because it’s not in season here. But one of the wondrous joys that comes from putting food up during the summer and fall is that I can enjoy it all year long – free of cost and guilt!
Read the rest of Sundried Tomato and Almond Pesto – and free olive oil!

Stumble this Post | Share on Facebook | Add to Del.icio.us

Fresh Pork Ham Roast with Pan Gravy

Michele — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 12:03:57 +0000

My Celebration of the Pig dinner for New Year’s Eve was delicious and a huge success, other than the very large second degree burn I inflicted on myself with bacon grease. Note to self: wear oven mitts when handling a baking sheet full of hot grease! Note to readers: if you ever get a grease burn, it’s critical to immediately get it under cold running water and pretty much keep it under cold water or a cold washcloth until it stops burning, which in my case was about 14 hours later.

I promised to share a few of the recipes with you here, and I’ll start with the star of the evening, the roast. I don’t really like cured ham, so asked my processor to leave the hams fresh, and I used
Read the rest of Fresh Pork Ham Roast with Pan Gravy

Stumble this Post | Share on Facebook | Add to Del.icio.us

Thinking Ahead When Cooking

Michele — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 14:39:14 +0000

I know many of you are time crunched, and even though you may enjoy cooking, don’t have the time to spend in the kitchen that you’d like. One of the easiest things you can do is to think ahead when cooking and cook a greater quantity of something that you can use in more than one dish. A braised chuck roast is a perfect example.
Read the rest of Thinking Ahead When Cooking

Stumble this Post | Share on Facebook | Add to Del.icio.us

Braised Oxtail Ragu

Michele — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:31:05 +0000

If spring is meant for cleaning your house and airing it out, fall is meant – at least to me – for cleaning out the outside meat freezer to make room for the half hog, lamb, grass fed beef, and bison I get each fall from local farmers, ranchers and our very own stock show. In the process I found the bison
Read the rest of Braised Oxtail Ragu

Stumble this Post | Share on Facebook | Add to Del.icio.us

Steak with Green Peppercorn Sauce

Michele — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 13:30:26 +0000

One of the things my daughter has wanted to focus on in cooking lessons with me is the technique for making great sauces. Most of them originate from a mother sauce, and in this case, green peppercorn sauce begins with a basic brown sauce. She’s also been a beef lover most of her life, so the idea of serving this sauce over these perfectly cooked, medium rare, juicy NY strip steaks I think sealed the deal for this lesson’s menu.

Basic Brown Sauce
Yields about 2 cups

1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter
2-4 tablespoons flour (less if you want it thinner, more if you want it thicker like in this picture)
2 1/2 cups beef broth

Cook the onion, carrot and celery in oil or butter over medium high heat until nice and caramelized (that brown color is what will help flavor and color the sauce). Stir in flour to make a roux, then whisk in beef broth, stirring until thickened. Strain out solids.

Green Peppercorn Sauce
Serves 4

1 shallot, minced fine
1 cup basic brown sauce
2 tablespoons port wine
2 tablespoons brandy or cognac
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons green peppercorns, rinsed

After searing steaks in a skillet, remove the steaks and add the shallot, cooking until soft, about 1 minute. Add all remaining ingredients and simmer together for about 3-5 minutes to cook off alcohol. Serve over sliced steaks.

Stumble this Post | Share on Facebook | Add to Del.icio.us

Lighter Pasta Primavera with Shrimp

Michele — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 18:13:35 +0000

Making a creamy white sauce for pasta doesn’t have to be high fat (even though that’s tasty also) to taste decadent and leaving you feeling satisfied.
Read the rest of Lighter Pasta Primavera with Shrimp

Stumble this Post | Share on Facebook | Add to Del.icio.us