Tony's Savory Polenta

Here's how Tony makes his Savory Polenta.  We serve this as an appetizer under a beautiful Roasted Stuffed Pepper.

Start by browning a couple of cloves of minced garlic in olive oil.  Add  a chopped jalapeno or some crushed red pepper if you want some heat.  Add a quart of chicken stock and heat slightly, then slowly whisk in 1 cup of corn meal.  Keep stirring until the mixture thickens to an "oatmeal" consistency.  You may have to add more corn meal if it's too thin.  It may need a little salt and pepper to taste.

Once it thickens, lower the heat and continue stirring for at least 5 minutes until the meal cooks through and softens.  Flavor with some Pecorino Romano or other Italian cheese. Serve hot!

Oven Roasted Stuffed Peppers

Tony and I served an appetizer recently of these Roasted Stuffed Peppers.  They are wonderful!  Here's how we did it:

Brown some Sweet Italian Sausage and Ground Beef with a little olive oil, chopped garlic, a small onion chopped, some grated carrot, some chopped cabbage.  When meat is browned and all other vegetables are soft, remove from heat and add some cooked rice and Italian cheeses (Romano, Parmesan, Asiago...).  Cut red bell peppers in half and remove seeds.  Stuff the peppers generously.

Layer them on a baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes until nicely browned like this.

We served this on a bed of Savory Polenta (recipe to come!), but mashed potatoes would be nice also.

Pie Crust 101

It's pie-baking time!  Here's the recipe for my tried-and-true pie crust:

For a 9 inch 2 crust pie, mix 2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 2/3 cup Butter Flavored Crisco in a mixing bowl with a pastry blender.  

Don't overmix it.  There will still be lots of lumps and it should resemble coarse meal like this:

Add 3-4 tablespoons cold water and stir with a fork until the dough comes together like this:

Divide the dough in half and roll out on a floured surface.

I fold the dough in quarters like this to transfer it to my pie plate:

Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork all over and fill with your favorite fruit filling.  Here's my apple pie filling:

3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 t salt, 1 t cinnamon, 1/2 t nutmeg,

1 1/2 T flour, 6+ large apples sliced.

Place 2 T of butter cut into pieces on top of fruit. Roll out the other half of the crust and position on top.

Seal the edges, cut some slits in the top, brush with milk, sprinkle with sugar, and bake - 425 degrees for 10 minutes, lower the heat to 350 and bake for another 30-40 minutes until filling is bubbling out of the vents!

Hungry??  Go make a pie!

New York Cheesecake

Here's a really nice easy recipe for a New York style cheesecake from my friend, Rick.  I made this recently for some friends and it was a big hit!

For the crust:
Mix 1 1/2 C sugar, 1 1/3 C graham cracker crumbs, 1 1/2 sticks melted butter and press onto the bottom and sides of a 10 inch spring form pan.

For the filling:
Cream together in a large mixing bowl 3 packages cream cheese, 1 1/2 C sugar and 1 pint sour cream until very creamy and smooth.  Then add 5 eggs, 2 t vanilla and 2 t lemon juice.

Pour into the crust and bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes until nicely browned on top and the center doesn't tremble when the cake is gently shaken.  I put a pan on the rack under the cheesecake while it's baking to catch any melted butter that might drip out while it's baking.

I'm glad I remembered to take this photo before it was all gone.  Enjoy!