Braciole

Here's my take on this Italian dish - which has many, many versions. All depends on what you like.

Ingredients

• • 2 1/2 lbs round steaks
  • 1/2 lb Italian sausage
  • 1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
  • 1/4 cup shredded/grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large onions, chopped ( 1 cup)
  • 1/2 cup chopped carrots
  • 1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups dry red wine
  • 1 (16 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
  • 1 can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon salt ( again)
  • 1 bay leaves

Directions

1. Trim all fat from steak; cut meat into 8 equal pieces; then pound until very thin with a wooden mallet.
2. Remove casing from Italian sausage.
3. Break up in a medium size bowl; add parsley, Parmesan cheese, garlic, Italian seasoning, 1 tsp. salt and the lemon pepper seasoning; mix thoroughly.
4. Spread each steak with 2 heaping tablespoons of the sausage mixture; roll up, jelly-roll fashion; fasten with wooden picks or tie with string.
5. Brown beef rolls, 3 or 4 at a time, in hot oil in a Dutch oven; remove rolls and place on plate or wax paper.
6. Add onion, carrot and pepper to pot; cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.
7. Stir in wine, tomatoes, paste and remaining 1 tsp. salt and bay leaf; bring mixture to boiling; lower heat.
8. Add beef rolls; cover and simmer for 1 hour.
9. Remove from heat.
10. Remove the picks or string from braciole before serving.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

This was my quick and easy dinner. I found a recipe on the Campbell's Kitchen website, and this is what I turned it into.

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

veggies (could use a bag of mixed veggies, I used corn and peas)

1 can cream of chicken soup

splash milk

1 package chicken stuffing, prepared according to package instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Prepare stuffing according to the package directions

3. Combine chicken, soup, veggies and a splash of milk (about a 1/4 cup) in an oven safe casserole dish. Toss to coat with the chicken.

4. Top the casserole with the prepared stuffing.

5. Bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on if your chicken was thawed or frozen.

YUM!

Alton Brown's Turkey

This Thanksgiving, with encouragement from the chefs at Modern Bliss, I decided to go for it and brine my turkey. I'm so glad I did. I got so many compliments on the turkey....way more than I ever have before.

Since it's not mine, I'm not going to repost, but instead just post a link. Here is the recipe.

The recipe that revives the blog

I'm midway through making something I've only ever had in a restaurant, Maggiano's in fact. Maggiano's is now closed, so I've been googling my little heart out, trying to find a recipe that looked like what I'd had. What is this? Braciole. Perhaps you remember the Everybody Loves Raymond episode about it. Maybe you've had it at Maggiano's (although it looks like they've taken it off the menu). From what I've found, everyone makes it differently. So I found a recipe I liked and made my changes to it. Tomorrow night at dinner, we'll find out how I did.

In the meantime, I think I may update with some of my other new recipes that I've made. I've been cooking up a storm, and loving it.