Jer-Boy's Pasta Fagioli - Genius family recipe

Ever since I dated someone of Italian descent people have asked what secret tips I learned from the fam. Well they tried to show me how to make tomato sauce, but I can't really explain that because I have yet to really master it - after having the grandma's sauce, I am shamed by my attempts. But I can pay homage to their warm efforts by posting one of their more accessible recipes. Don't worry, it's ok, I'm not posting a family secret. The father published a version of this recipe when he was featured as a "cook of the week" in Chicago's Daily Herald, so this is completely kosher. I will, however, tell you the punch behind this dish ... I was told to NEVER forget the cayenne.

You will need:
olive oil
sweet onion
2 or 3 carrots
1 celery stalk
1 14oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 box of chicken broth
2 14oz. cans of cannelloni beans (use Progresso)
3/4 cup of Barilla's "Ditalini" noodles
Italian Sausage (bulk)
Bacon
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne to taste
Emeril's southwest essence to taste (who knew this was an old-world tradition!)

Brown about 1/2 lb. of the Italian sausage till all the pinkness is gone (freeze the rest for later). Drain the grease and set sausage aside.

Dice the carrots, celery, and about a quarter of the sweet onion. Dice or cut about 2-3 tablespoons of the bacon.

Add 3 tablespoons of olive to pot. Warm and add the bacon-saute till bacon starts to turn brown. Add the carrots, celery, and onion. Saute for about 15/20 minutes - stirring so the onion does not burn.

Open and drain the cans of beans. Puree them in a blender. I added a bit of olive oil and about 2/3 tablespoons of the broth.

Add the diced tomatoes to the sauted vegetables. Stir (include the tomato sauce). Add the chicken broth. Stir. Add the pureed beans and stir/mix thoroughly. Add the 2 bay leaves. Add the salt, pepper, cayenne, and Emeril's to taste.
Bring to boil, then simmer for about 45 minutes.

Cook the noodles separately for half the time the box calls for then add to soup.

Add sausage. Simmer for about 10 minutes then serve with Parmasian cheese on top.

Peppercorn Beef Tenderloin

1 4-lb beef tenderloin
1/2 low sodium soy sauce divided
6 t. freshly ground peppercorn
2 t. ground ginger
1 1/2 t. ground cardamon
8 cloves garlic minced
cooking spray
curly endive
orange rind strips (optional)

trim fat. combine 2T soy sauce w/ next 6 ingredients. Rub meat w/ ss. Combine meat and remaining 1/4 c plus 2 T ss in a large zip-lock bag. Marinate in fridge 8 hours. Remove meat from bag, reserving marinade. fold under 3 to 4 inches of small end. place tenderloin on a broiler rack coated with cooking spray. 

Garlic Scape Pesto

One of the things I've really enjoyed about moving to Central PA is buying a farmshare; I've tried all kinds of vegies I've never had -- or even heard of (like garlic scapes) -- before. Here's a recipe that everyone has been raving over.

Makes about 1 cup

10 garlic scapes, finely chopped

1/3 to 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan (to taste and texture)

1/3 cup almonds (I roast them in a hot oven for about 5 - 10 mins)

About 1/2 cup olive oil

Sea salt

Put the scapes, 1/3 cup of the cheese, almonds and half the olive oil in the bowl of a food processor (or use a blender or a mortar and pestle). Whir to chop and blend all the ingredients and then add the remainder of the oil and, if you want, more cheese. If you like the texture, stop; if you'd like it a little thinner, add some more oil. Season with salt.

If you're not going to use the pesto immediately, press a piece of plastic against the surface to keep it from oxidizing. The pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days or packed airtight and frozen for a couple of months

Indian inspired Goat Spectaculair

We get really good, fresh-tasting and well-treated goat meat from Young American Growers at Tait Farm (in Pennsylvania). It tastes great grilled with a few seasonings, but I decided to turn it up a notch. I searched a few recipes and came up with the below. It was excellent!!!

• 1 lb. goat meat (ground or cube)
  
• 1 clove (or ground cloves)
  
• cinnamon
• 1 bay leaf (if you have it)
• 1 teaspoon whole black pepper or ground...
  
• oil
  
• 1 chopped onion
  
• 3 chopped tomatoes (or 12 oz. can)
  
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• a couple of chopped garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste or chop up some ginger roots
• 1 tablespoon red chili powder
• 2 teaspoons turmeric powder (or to taste... i ended up adding more)
  
• salt to taste

Heat oil in frying pan, add cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, whole black pepper and fry for few seconds. Then
add onions and fry until light brown, add ginger, garlic, tomato, tomato puree, chili, turmeric and salt to taste. When masala is thoroughly fried and oil comes up add goat and fry until brown. Then cover pan and simmer on low. Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves.

kale soup

This has become a staple for me. Stephanie pointed it out to me.
http://tastyandglutenfree.blogspot.com/2008/07/italian-sausage-white-bean-and-kale.html

Cobb Pasta

This is the best. Aaron made it well, I never tried because it is too time consuming. A definite crowd pleaser... for gods' sakes it has BACON AND AVOCADOS in it!

4 or 5 cloves garlic
~1/3 cup olive oil
8 oz. cherry tomatoes
10 oz. short cut bacon
11 oz. fettucine
1 tblspoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh basil
2 ripe avocados, diced


Preheat the oven to 200. Put eight ounces of cherry tomatoes (without
stems) and 4 or 5 cloves of garlic (unpeeled, with olive oil drizzled
on) in the oven. Take out the garlic after 10 minutes, and let the
tomatoes cook for 5 or 10 more minutes.
Cook 10 ounces 'short cut'(?) bacon 'under a hot grill' (we just make
the bacon in the normal fashion). Chop it up into small pieces and set
aside.

Meanwhile, cook 11 ounces fettucine until al dente. Drain well and
transfer to a large bowl. Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil over the
pasta and toss. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
Slit the skin of each garlic clove and squeeze the garlic out. Place in
a screw-top jar with 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons
roughly chopped fresh basil, and 1/3 of a cup of olive oil. Put on the
top and shake well. Add the tomatoes and their juices, bacon and
avocado to the fettucine, pour on the dressing and toss well. Garnish
with a few whole fresh basil leaves and serve with crusty bread (I
ignore this last sentence). We add the avocado at the very end, so
oxidation doesn't make it brown. Enjoy.

(oatmeal) chooocolate chip cookies

these are soooo tricked out....we take the chocolate chip cookie to the edge kick it against the wall and yet its still 100% chocolate chip cookie

okay, here it is:

3/4 cup chocolate chips

okay, stop. right. here.

chocolate chip cookies are only as good as the chocolate you put in them. get good stuff - semisweet or (better yet) bittersweet. sometimes i'll go as far as taking a bar of Scharffen -Berger or Lindt and chopping it up, but there's also high quality chips (ie. Ghiradelli) to be found

alright, heres the rest of it:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled oats (i find "quick" or even instant oatmeal work best)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

(sometimes some cashews slip in my dough, but optional)

-Set 2 racks in the middle and upper thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
-In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and oats, together

-In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until blended

-Mix the egg, vanilla, and maple syrup together and mix in until smooth

-Gradually mix in the flour-oatmeal mixture and then chocolate chips.
-Drop rounded dough onto a nonstick or (as jonah rock's it) parchment-lined baking sheet.

-Bake for 9 minutes.

-Set the cookie sheets on a rack to cool.

consume.