"Big" Dinner #1, part 1--Milanese Braised Beef

Occasionally, I feel like making a "big" dinner--well, big for me, anyway.  Most of the time I cook a main dish and a simple side or salad; this time, I made a pricey main dish and two nice sides.  Here is my lovely table, full of wonderful food:

And my plate, looking great as well:

First, I will post about the main dish, which is Milanese braised beef.  This recipe is from a book I have called "Cooking With Wine" by Anne Willam.  Most of the recipes are quite involved and ask for a list of ingredients that can get costly in a hurry (thus why I said "pricey" main dish for this one). So far, the couple of recipes I've managed to try from it have been excellent, with this one being no exception.  The side dishes I made are not from it, and will be posted in the next two posts.

Ingredients:

1/4 lb. pancetta, cut into small pieces

2.5 to 3 lb. top round/London broil (long, rectangular cut)

2 to 3 garlic cloves, cut in slivers

3 T. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

salt and pepper

1 T. oil or lard (I used canola oil)

1 T. butter

1 onion, chopped (I used a medium sized yellow onion)

1 bottle Italian red wine (I used a Piemonte Barbera)

1 bay leaf

2 to 3 sprigs fresh basil

2 to 3 sprigs fresh marjoram

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 300°F.  With the point of a small knife, poke holes in the beef and push 2 pieces of pancetta and a sliver of garlic into each.

2. Roll and tie the meat into a cylinder (pancetta and garlic inside roll).

4. Mix the flour, cloves, cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper on a plate.

5. Roll the meat in the flour mixture, being sure to coat well all over (pat on with hands if needed).  Heat the oil (or lard) and butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat, add the meat, and brown very thoroughly on all sides (around 15 minutes).

6. Add the onion to the pan (with the meat) and brown it as well, around 3 to 5 minutes.

7. Pour in the wine, add the bay leaf, basil, and marjoram to the pan.  Cover and bring to a boil.

8. Transfer to oven and braise for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours--turn beef from time to time; meat should be tender enough to cut without using a knife (mine was 2.85 lbs, went for just over 3 1/2 hours).

9. Remove beef from pan and place on a platter, cover with foil to keep warm.  Strain remaining sauce and return to pan.  Boil sauce for 10-15 minutes to reduce; serve with meat and enjoy!

Pâtes Aux Lardons (Pasta with Bacon and Gruyère)

Oh, how happy I am to have come across this recipe!  I've had dishes similar to this when in France, but the version I ended up with (after slight tweaks) was ahhhhmazing.  I could eat this far too often (but won't, given how many calories I imagine it must have...)--it's not difficult to make, so that doesn't help decrease the desire for repetition!
Anyhow, here is the link to the original recipe:
https://chezbonnefemme.com/pates-aux-lardons-french-pasta-with-bacon-and-gruyere-or-comte-of-course/

Ingredients:

8 slices of bacon, chopped (I suggest using kitchen shears--hold all 8 strips together and cut 1/4" sections across all strips)
2 T. unsalted butter
2 T. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. 2% or whole milk, plus a little more (I used 2%)
2 tsp. bottled minced garlic
4 oz. shredded Gruyère (or Emmental, or Comté, or Fontina) cheese
1/4 c. grated/shredded Parmesan-Reggiano cheese, plus more to garnish
salt
coarse ground black pepper
dried parsley
8 oz. dried pappardelle (or other wide, flat pasta, such as fettuccine)

Instructions:

1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil for pasta and cook according to package directions.

2. In a large saucepan or skillet (I used a skillet), cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp but not hard (basically, when it just starts to brown).  Use a slotted spoon to transfer bacon to a towel-lined plate and discard bacon drippings.

3. Wipe out pan and return to medium heat.  Melt the butter, then whisk in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, for 1 minute--do NOT allow mixture to brown.

4. Slowly whisk in the milk, then add garlic.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

5. Add cheeses to the sauce and whisk until melted and smooth.  If sauce is too thick, add small splashes of milk and whisk in until desired texture is reached (I think I added around 3T. more).  Remove from heat.

6. Season with salt, pepper, and parsley to taste.  Stir in bacon.

7. Toss with cooked pasta.

8. Garnish with grated Parmesan-Reggiano and dried parsley--enjoy (lots)!

Oatmeal Bread (bread machine)

Did I mention I love my bread machine?  Because I totally do :)  It's so easy to use, and who doesn't like the smell of baking bread to fill the house??  Decided to try a different type of bread this time, just to do something different.  As usual, glad I did--it's a lovely bread!  This recipe comes from the user manual that came with my machine, an Oster 2 lb. Expressbake.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 c. water (70-80°F)

3 T. honey

2 T. butter or margarine

3/4 c. quick-oats oats

1 3/4 tsp. salt

3 3/4 c. bread flour

2 T. oat bran

2 T. dry milk

2 tsp. active dry yeast

Instructions:

1. Measure and add liquid ingredients to the pan.

2. Measure and add dry ingredients except yeast to the pan.

3. Use your finger to form a small well/hole in the middle of the dry ingredients.  Be sure that the hole does not go too deep, as you do not want the yeast to touch the liquids.  Measure and add yeast into the well/hole.

4. Snap baking pan into the breadmaker and close the lid.

5. Select the "BASIC" baking setting.

6. Select "Crust Color" according to preference (I used medium).

7. Press "Start" and let the machine do all the work :)

This is what mine looked like when it came out:

I always turn my bread out on to a plate with a cooling rack within a few minutes of removing it from the machine.

Drop Sugar Cookies

Warning: these cookies are severely addictive, and this recipe makes a lot of them...
This is a family recipe that I love--too much.  The cookies are delicate and right between chewy and crispy mmmmm. As written, this makes quite a few cookies. In the video I made for these, I halved the recipe and it still turned out just as great, so feel free to do so :)

Link to my YouTube "making of the recipe" video: https://youtu.be/jK2Y6bjRBFI

Ingredients:

1 c. powdered sugar
1 c. sugar
1 c. canola or vegetable oil
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
4 c. flour
sanding/coarse sugar (around 3/4 c.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Cream powdered sugar, sugar, oil, and butter together until very well blended (around 3 minutes).

3. Beat in eggs, vanilla extract, and lemon extract.

4. Sift salt, baking soda, cream of tartar, and flour together in a bowl.  Mix this into batter gradually, adding around a fourth of it at a time.

5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Use 2 spoons to "drop" cookies onto baking sheet.  (These are around 1 to 1 1/4 inch diameter.)

6. Pour some sanding sugar into a small shallow dish/plate.  Use the bottom of a flat measuring cup or glass to press into the sugar.  It will collect more sugar and more easily after the first few cookies.

7. Using the sugar coated bottom, press cookies gently to flatten; thickness should be around 1/4 inch.

8. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes.  They should look slightly puffy and "set", with slightly golden brown edges (depends on your baking sheet--but do not overbake!)

9. Let cookies cool on baking sheet on cooling rack for at least 3 minutes, then slide parchment off with cookies onto rack to cool a few minutes more.

10. Remove from parchment paper to finish cooling completely.

11. Enjoy lots!

Poulet Sauté aux Herbes de Provence

As you might guess by the picture, this is very not diet food lol.  This is yet another recipe I've had saved for quite a time; this one I resisted making because it involves making a Hollandaise type sauce, which intimidated me (I'd heard it is very tricky to get right).  My craving for a dish wish the wonderful herbes de Provence defeated my apprehension and decided I would go for it.  Oh, how glad I am that I did!  This dish is excellent, well worth the effort :) And the sauce wasn't nearly as tricky as I expected. This is the original recipe (which I adapted to my needs): http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/poulet-saut-aux-herbes-de-provence

Ingredients:

1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 1/2 lbs. bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (this was 6 pieces of the package I got)
herbes de Provence
salt
pepper
1 tsp. minced bottled garlic
2/3 c. dry white wine

2 large egg yolks
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 T. dry white wine
herbes de Provence

Instructions:

1. Melt the butter in large sauté pan over medium-high heat.

2. Cook the chicken in two batches (do not crowd into one batch!); each should take about 8 minutes.  I turned them every 2 minutes and used a splatter screen (highly recommend).

3. Return all chicken to the pan and sprinkle herbes de Provence, salt, and pepper over top of the chicken (use amount to your taste).  Reduce heat to medium and cover.  Cook for approximately 15 minutes (depending on thickness/size of thighs--mine were fairly large), turning over every 3-4 minutes.

4. Transfer chicken to a plate and cover to keep warm (I used aluminum foil).

5. Add garlic to remaining pan juices, along with the wine.  Return heat to medium-high.  Boil sauce until reduced to 3/4 c., scraping bottom of pan while stirring occasionally (this takes around 8 minutes).  Pour reduced pan juice into cup and reserve for use in making sauce.

6. To make sauce, begin with placing the 2 large egg yolks in a small heavy saucepan OFF HEAT.  Whisk the egg yolks until they begin to thicken slightly.

7. Whisk in the lemon juice and wine.

8. Using the reserved pan juices, dip up 1 tsp. at a time and whisk into pan.  Yes, this takes a bit of time, but you must not rush it or you may ruin the sauce (you do not want the eggs to cook/curdle!).

9. Add herbes de Provence to desired taste level and set sauce over the lowest heat setting possible on stove and whisk constantly for 3 minutes.  (You may also add salt and pepper, but I did not feel this was necessary.)

10. Spoon sauce over chicken and enjoy!  **I served this with rosemary potatoes.**

Rosemary Potatoes

This is one of my very favorite side dishes; you will see it featured often!

Ingredients:

8 red potatoes
1/2 c. butter or margarine (I often use half butter/half margarine)
1 T. garlic salt
fresh or dried rosemary (to taste)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Rinse/scrub potatoes and cut into small wedges.

3. If you would like to cut down the cooking time, microwave the cut up potatoes in covered dish for 8 minutes. (I always do this.)

4. Melt butter and stir in garlic salt.

5. Place potatoes in 8x8 or 13x9 baking dish and pour butter/salt mixture over to coat.  (If you microwaved them, I find it's easier to pour over and stir together in the bowl first, which is what I have pictured here.)

6. Sprinkle desired amount of rosemary over top of potatoes. (I used dried this time, but I have also used fresh; both are super tasty, no preference, just use what you have on hand.)

7. Bake until tender; the amount of time will depend on pan size, thickness of potato wedges, and whether or not you used the microwave to speed things along.  Typically, I end up baking them for at least 20-30 minutes after using the microwave (think I went a bit long this time, and I forgot to take the picture until after some had been dipped out lol.)