Stuffed Mushrooms a la Lenore

Here is a recipe from a long time friend, Lenore Drivas Incorvaia. It looks great and I’m going to make them for New Years. THANKS LENORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY EATING

Lenore’s recipe for Stuffed Mushrooms:

3 small containers of fresh mushrooms…approx 28
2 cups Italian style bread crumbs
olive oil
3/4 cup fresh parsley
5 -8 large fresh garlic cloves
3 TBLS soy sauce
1 cup- 1 1/2 cups white wine (depending how heavy your hand is) lol
1/2 stick butter
1 1/2 cups fresh grated Romano cheese

TURN YOUR OVEN ON 400 degrees

clean and remove stems from the mushrooms. when you finished that, dice the stems fine. In a large skillet add the olive oil to cover the bottom of your pan. add the diced mushroom stems. let saute for about 10 mins to that you will add 5-8 cloves of garlic, fairly large cloves. Add 1/2 stick of butter, 3 Tbls of soy sauce, about 1cup- 1 1/2 cups white wine, about 3/4 cup chopped fresh parley. let saute for about 1/2 hr.

Pour your Italian style bread crumbs in a large bowl. Add warm water to the bread crumbs to make a thick paste (this is the trick) it makes the stuffing creamy instead of griddy like sand. To the bread crumbs add about 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Romano cheese. To that add the mixture from your skillet and mix well with a folk after a couple mins you can then continue mixing by hand making sure everything is mixed together properly.
Now you can begin to stuff your mushrooms and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. When your done arranging them, lightly drizzle the tops with olive oil.
Let bake about 25 mins or until a nice golden crust has formed on the stuffing and the mushrooms are a beautiful dark brown color…..

Hope you enjoy as much as my family and friends do when I make them!!!
HAPPY EATING!!

Grandma’s Italian Sausage Stuffing

Coming from Italian decent, almost every holiday meal or daily meal for that matter had some sort of Italian flare to it. Besides the usual homemade ravioli’s and sauce, my Grandmother always made her Italian sausage stuffing to serve with the bird. I do it every year and its always a hit. I have also made it for the guests at resorts and hotels I’ve worked at over the years and have always gotten positive reviews.

1.5 pound Mild Italian sausage
1 stalk Celery (med dice)
1 each Yellow Onion (med dice)
4 cloves Garlic (minced)
1 each Green Bell Pepper (med dice)
1 teaspoon Thyme (dry)
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
2 each Eggs
1/2 cup Milk
2 tablespoons Butter (melted)
1/2 loaf Italian Bread (cubed)
1/2 cup Water
4 tablespoon Italian Flat Parsley

Saute Italian sausage with the garlic, onions, celery and green pepper till sausage is cooked and veggies are soft. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

In a bowl mix together the eggs, butter, thyme, salt and pepper, parsley, milk, water and bread crumbs. Mix well.

Add sausage mixture to bread mixture and mix well. I use my hands just like Gram did.

you can cook stuffed in the bird or cook in pan covered with foil for about 1 hour. If you do stuff the bird, make sure the internal temperature for the stuffing inside the turkey is at least 140 degrees. It adds a ton of flavor and people who have never had it, love. I will also make a traditional stuffing as well just in case a guest does not want to experiment.

This will be the first year in a long time that Cindy and I are not having a big dinner at our house. Were going to the Hotel Del in Cornado Island for a long weekend and were coming home the day before Thanksgiving. We decided were going to make homemade ravioli stuff with ground turkey and cranberry’s for the 2 of us. But rest assured I will be making a batch of Grams Stuffing!!!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dinner and Demo Party Menu!

Preparing the Bibb Salad

Roasted Beef Tenderloin w/ Au Jus

1ea. Whole Beef Tenderloin, cleaned and chain removed
2Tbsp Roasting Seasoning (your choice)
Salt and Pepper
2ea. Carrots – chopped
1ea. Yellow Onion – chopped
3stalks Celery – chopped
3ea. Garlic Clove – peeled and left whole
1qt. Beef Stock or Beef Broth (found in soup section of supermarket)
1cp. Dry White Cooking Wine

Take large roasting pan and coat pan with vegetable oil. Place in 400 degrees pre heated oven and heat oil. Once oil is heated place beef in pan and sear on all sides. Turn oven down to 350 degrees. Add chopped carrot, celery, onion and garlic and roast beef for 30 to 45 minutes or until internal temperature of 115 degrees.

Remove beef and set aside to rest for 20 minutes. Place roasting pan on top of stove and heat. Deglaze with white wine and reduce by ½. Add beef broth and brig to boil. Strain into 2-quart saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes. Taste and season to taste.

Béarnaise Mousse

1pint Heavy Whipping Cream
5sprigs Fresh Tarragon
4oz Red Wine vinegar
½ TBSP Lemon Pepper
Salt and Pepper to Taste

In a small saucepan place Red Wine Vinegar and Tarragon and reduce by half. Add tarragon and vinegar and lemon pepper into cream and whip cream to a semi hard peak (like whipped cream). You can also use a hand mixer or kitchen aid mixer if you don’t want to do by hand. Serve with Beef

Wedge of Bibb lettuce w/ Blue Cheese Dressing

2 heads Bibb lettuce, cleaned and cut into quarters
1 ea Red Onion, sliced thin
4 ea Roma Tomatoes, cut into quarter
½ pound Blue Cheese
1 cup Mayonnaise
⅓ cup Heavy Cream
2tsp Tarragon Wine Vinegar

2Tbsp Chopped Italian Parsley

Place Bibb lettuce on plate and garnish with tomato and onion.

For the blue cheese dressing, place ½ of the blue cheese, mayo, whipping cream, vinegar, 1tsp of salt, and ½tsp of pepper into the bowl of the food processor fitted with the metal blade and process until combined and still chunky.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad. Crumble the rest of the blue cheese over the salad and serve close to room temperature.

Roasted Potatoes

18 ea. Yellow Bliss Potatoes, cut in half’s
4 TBSP Vegetable Oil
1 Sprig Fresh Oregano chopped
1 Sprig Fresh Thyme chopped
1 Sprig Fresh Rosemary chopped
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Take 2 tablespoon of the oil, the potatoes and the fresh herbs and toss together in bowl. Add salt and pepper and toss again.

Place small roasting pan with the rest of oil in 350-degree oven and heat oil. When oil is hot toss in the potato mixture and bake for 25 to 45 minutes. Remove from pan and serve.

Broccoli florets with Garlic and Butter

2 heads Fresh Broccoli cut into florets
4 cloves Fresh Garlic chopped
1 ea. Shallot
4TBSP Salted Butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

Blanch broccoli in boiling water till tender. Remove from water and cool in ice bath

Take sauté pan and add 1 tablespoon of butter, add garlic and shallots and cook till golden brown. Add Broccoli and rest of butter and toss in pan and serve

RavenHearse Halloween Party 2009

Me and Grievsley

RavenHearse Mansion and The Practical Chef have teamed up to plan and cater events throughout the year. the mansion is a great place for parties, weddings and mystery theater. 2010 is looking to be a big year. Please check out more pictures on Facebook at the Practical Chef fan page.

http://www.ravenhearse.com/main.html

Interview

Check out my interview at Business Opportunities Weblog Network @ http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2009/10/21/the-practical-chef-brings-the-cooking-lessons-to-you/

Cooking your Turkey – Tips you have to have!

Its that time of year. Here are some tips for cooking your bird. We usually ask our selfs the same questions every year. You may want print this one and keep it with your Thanksgiving recipes for years to come.

8 cooking tips for the turkey-challenged

Some people find cooking a Thanksgiving turkey stressful, but cooking a turkey is just like cooking a big chicken–the same rules apply. This year I’m sharing some tips for the ‘turkey challenged.’ I hope this information helps you make a turkey without the stress!

1. Fresh or frozen
While some people swear by fresh turkeys, others do not notice a difference, so buy what you like. Just know that a fresh turkey will cost more than frozen and must be used within a few days of purchase.

2. Size matters
Nothing would be worse than running out of turkey on Thanksgiving. If you are never quite sure how large of a turkey to buy, the conventional wisdom is about one pound per person. If you like a lot of leftovers, buy more. If you do not, then stick with the pound per person weight.

3. Turkey defrosting
If you buy a frozen turkey, be sure to give it enough time to properly defrost. In a refrigerator, calculate about 24 hours to defrost for every 5 pounds. If you forget to remove your turkey from the freezer, use the cold water defrosting method: put the turkey in a leak proof bag and immerse in cold water, then change the water every 30 minutes. This will take about a half hour per pound to defrost. If all else fails, use the microwave to defrost, but be very careful, and remember, turkeys defrosted in the microwave must be cooked immediately. Finally, never thaw a stuffed turkey in the microwave!

4. Cooking methods
Oven-roating, deep-frying, and grilling are the three most common methods for cooking a turkey. Here are some tips on each method:

- Oven roasting – Place your turkey in a 325° oven and roast it until it’s done–usually about 15 minutes per pound. You can cook it covered or uncovered, tented with foil or without foil, in a baking bag or without, as long as you watch carefully so it doesn’t dry out.

- Deep frying – With this method, you inject flavor into the turkey rather than shaking on seasonings. Get a big turkey fryer, pour in cooking oil, then add your turkey. Generally it takes about 3 minutes per pound to fry a turkey. Deep-frying produces fabulous results, but fires and injuries are likelier with this method. If you’re accident-prone, like me, or have small kids or animals around, you might pass on deep-frying.

- Grilling – This is my absolute favorite way to make a turkey. While this can be done on a charcoal or gas grill, I prefer using a charcoal grill. In either case, just set the grill up for indirect heat. Add in a drip pan to catch those wonderful drippings. Add some soaked wood chips if you want, and place your turkey on the cool side of the grill. I’ve had a 20 lb turkey cook in around 2 hours, but according to everything I’ve read, it will take 12 to 15 minutes per pound. A side benefit of grilling a turkey is that it leaves your oven available to make all the other fabulous side dishes you make.

5. Stuffed vs unstuffed
I like to make my stuffing outside the bird for several reasons, but the most important is salmonella. I am just too concerned that my stuffing won’t be cooked well enough inside the bird and that the stuffing will be dangerous to eat. If you absolutely must stuff your turkey, stuff it just before you cook it. Then, before eating, check that the stuffing has reached 165° and make sure to check the stuffing temperature in several places.

6. Brining
Brining involves soaking the turkey overnight in salt water and is an effective way of adding moistness to the bird. Using one cup of kosher salt for every gallon of water, make enough brine to cover your turkey. Keep the turkey refrigerated and brine it for approximately 12 hours. Note: a brined turkey will usually cook faster than an unbrined turkey, so watch your cooking times.

7. Testing for doneness
Cook until temperature reaches 170° degrees in the breast and 180° degrees in the thigh. Don’t worry if your meat is slightly pink, it’s the internal temperature of the meat that determines whether or not the turkey is ready. And don’t forget to let the turkey stand for about 20 minutes or so for the juices to redistribute. This will keep your turkey moist and tender. This is just about enough time to pull together your last minutes items for your fantastic meal.

8. If all else fails, call the Butterball hotline at 1-800-323-4848 for help
They are available long hours during the holiday season and are even open on Thanksgiving morning. You can also visit Butterball’s website for more information.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Halloween Costumes

We bought our costumers here last year. Good pricing! They have a huge selection of costumes for adults, kids and pets Plus they only charge a flat $4.99 for shipping. Great selection and good prices on kids costumes

$4.99 Flat Rate Shipping from BuyCostumes.com

Culinary Institute of America Stories

After I was accepted into the CIA I was a bit nervous about how much I knew about cooking compared to my fellow students. During the application proccess the admissions team was very thorough on how much experience you had prior to acceptance. I figured that I would be somewhere in the middle of the pack as far as experience. I was actually more at the top. What I found out is that if a parent or somebody made a generous donation it would pretty much guarantee your acceptance. There were quite a few students in my class who came staight out of High School and never worked in the industry other than a some fast food restaurant, part time. I was accepted but would have had to wait, lets face it I got a letter from a senetor I never met and was bumped to the top of the start list. I shouldn’t have been so suprised.

Well the day came to start school. I was a bit apprehensive. I put on my hounds tooth chef pants and chefs jacket and realized I did not know how to tie the neckerchief. What was I to do? I went to the home of a guy I had met at the restaurant I was working at at the time who was a CIA student himself and he taught me how to tie the darn thing.

When I arrived at the school it was a bit overwhelming. All these people moving about the the halls of this massive school. As a new student you stick out like a sore thumb. Each new class consisted of 72 people, broken down into 4 groups of 18. 2 groups did the AM shift and 2 did the PM. I started at the AM shift. This would allow me to work at the restaurant in the evenings. Lots of questions, lots to take in. I made friends fast. You would spend the next 2 years with these people. I’m still friends with a few of these people and we graduated in 1986.

By week two, I was settled in. But boy there was some pretty wild stories about the Chef instructors. The Europeans could be brutal……. More to come on that subject

Tastebook

I’m making my own cookbook at Tastebook.com. going back to what I said in the recipe box blog post, this is a great way to save those family recipes that have just been sitting in a box in a drawer in your kitchen somewhere. Click the link below and check it out. Its very cool………

Make your own custom cookbook with recipes from Epicurious, Allrecipes, Food Network, MyRecipes and more

Grandma’s Stuffed Cabbage

Stuffed Cabbage with an Italian Touch

  When my Mom and Dad got married they were 18 and 19 years old. My mother did not know how to cook. Dear old Dad sent his mother, my Grandmother in to teach my mother. It had to be done. My mother “Ginny Baby” learned all the recipes and to makes them till this day as good if not better than Grandma. Thank God for the passing down of recipes to the generations.  

 

The Filling

    ¾ # Ground Beef
¼ # Ground Pork
½ # American Sausage
½ cup Uncooked Long Grained Rice
¾ cup Milk whole
1ea Onion Diced

The Cabbage and Sauce

      1 ea Large head of Cabbage green
1 can Italian Tomatoes 16 to 20 oz
1 ea Small Onion chopped
1 Tbsp Garlic chopped
1 can Tomato Soup 14 oz
¼ cup Chopped Italian Parsley

Preperation

   Put all the meat in a large mixing bowl, add fine dice onion, salt and pepper, milk and rice and mix well. set aside.
Cut out core of the cabbage head and put in stock pot and add ½ cup of water. Bring to a boil then turn off heat and let sit for 15 minutes. Remove cabbage. Save liquid.
On your cutting board remove full size leafs of the cabbage. In the leaf put ¼ to ½ cup of meat mixture and roll. Kinda like rolling an eggroll. Repeat until filling is gone. Place finished stuffed cabbage into a pan and set aside.
In a 2 quart sauce pan saute the garlic and chopped onion in olive oil until golden brown. Add the can of tomatoes and cook for about 15 minutes.
Pour liquid on top of stuffed cabbage along with the can of soup and the saved water from the cabbage and cook for 1.5 to 2 hours.
Remove, place on platter and serve.