Easter Dinner Recipes

I love holidays.  I mean I really love holidays.  And as much work as I put into them, I'm sure my family wishes I loved them a lot less.  No dice people.  Yes, I get a little crazy about a couple of them, but I love the looks on people's faces when they see the decorations and eat the food.  I love the feelings and memories holidays give you.  And to me, Easter means good food, especially dessert!

My mainstay is always ham and then I include a couple quiches because my friend PJ doesn't eat ham.  Not that I really need an excuse, but that's why I never change that element.  Normally I make Julia Child's Braised Ham, but wanted to change things up this year.  I tried a recipe from a magazine called Orange Glazed Spiral Ham.  While this ham involved a lot less work, I have to say Julia, your ham rocks!  I don't seem to have much luck with the spiral hams.  I've only done one once before and they just seem too dry.  But, if you love spiral hams and you don't have the problem with it becoming dry, here is the recipe I used:

Orange-Glazed Spiral Ham

  

Ingredients:

·       1 fully cooked spiral-cut ham (about 8 lb.)

·       1 cup packed dark brown sugar

·       1/4 cup orange juice

·       1 cup (12 oz. jar) orange marmalade

·       1/4 cup Dijon mustard

·       Sliced oranges, to garnish

Directions:

    Preheat oven to 375º.

    Place ham, cut side down, on a rack in large roasting pan.  Pour 2 cups of water into roasting pan.  Cover ham with aluminum foil.

    Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes.  While ham is baking, whisk together brown sugar, orange juice, marmalade and mustard.  Set aside.

    Remove foil and brush ham liberally with about 3/4 cup of the orange glaze.  Heat uncovered for 30 minutes or until ham is nicely colored and internal temperature registers 140º on an instant read thermometer. 

    Let ham stand 10 minutes before slicing.  To slice, cut around center bone with a knife, freeing as many slices as you wish.  Cut along the natural seams  of the ham to remove slices separated from the bone.  Serve with remaining glaze on the side.  Garnish with orange slices, if desired.

Servings:  24

As part of my main dish offerings, I use Julia Child's quiche recipes.  I did a Broccoli and a Spinach quiche.  She calls for a prebaked 9" pie crust.  When I use this, the filling always seems too shallow, so I usually double the filling amounts.  This year I baked them in a 11" tart pan, and the single filling worked out perfect.  The tart pan is much shallower than the pie dish.  But, I would recommend you do her recipe as directed first and then try the double filling in your pie dish and see what you like better.  Just remember, when you double it, it will take longer to bake and you DO NOT want to underbake a quiche.  I've done it, and it's quite embarrassing!

Broccoli Quiche

  

Ingredients:

·       2 tbsp. minced shallots or scallions                         

·       2 tbsp. unsalted butter

·       salt and freshly ground pepper, and nutmeg            

·       2/3 cup or so cooked chopped broccoli                  

·       3 large eggs

·       1 1/2 cups whole milk or cream                              

·       1/4 cup lightly pressed down, grated Swiss cheese

·       9” prebaked shell, see recipe for butter dough

Directions:

    Preheat the oven to 375º. 

    Sauté the shallots or scallions briefly in the butter, add the broccoli and seasonings; stir over heat until tender.  Let cool. 

    Blend the eggs with enough milk or cream to make 1 1/2 cups.  Blend broccoli mixture into the custard. 

    Reserving 2 tablespoons of cheese, strew the rest in the shell. 

    Pour in the broccoli-custard up to 1/4” of the rim.  Sprinkle on the remaining cheese; bake 35 minutes until puffed and browned. 

Servings:  6-8                                                      

Spinach Quiche

  

Ingredients:

·       2 tbsp. minced shallots or scallions              

·       2 tbsp. unsalted butter

·       10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well

·       salt, freshly ground pepper, and nutmeg      

·       3 large eggs

·       1 1/2 cups whole milk or cream                   

·       1/4 cup lightly pressed down, grated Swiss cheese

·       9” prebaked shell, see recipe for butter dough

Directions:

    Preheat the oven to 375º. 

    Sauté the shallots or scallions briefly in the butter, add the spinach; stir over heat until tender.  Season, let cool. 

    Blend the eggs with enough milk or cream to make 1 1/2 cups.  Blend spinach mixture into the custard. 

    Reserving 2 tablespoons of cheese, strew the rest in the shell.  Pour in the spinach-custard up to 1/4” of the rim.  Sprinkle on the remaining cheese; bake 35 minutes until puffed and browned. 

Servings:  9”, 6

These recipes and the ham recipe I mentioned are in Julia Child's The Way to Cook.  I love this cookbook because she really explains how to do the dishes.  It's pretty big!

The next recipe I tried for the first time at my friend Angela's house.  I'm not really big on fruit dips, but this one is so different.  It definitely has a more tropical flavor to it.

To the left is the fruit dip with orange slices, pineapple and strawberries.
To the right is Mimi's Cafe's Carrot Raisin Bread (minus nuts).

Angela’s Fruit Dip

  

Ingredients:

·       1/2 cup sugar

·       2 tbsp. flour

·       1 cup pineapple juice

·       1 egg, beaten

·       1 tbsp. butter

·       1 cup Cool Whip

Directions:

    Combine sugar, flour, juice, egg and butter in saucepan.  Heat on medium until smooth and thick.  Set aside to cool completely.

    Once cool, add Cool Whip and beat until fluffy.  Chill for 2 hours before serving.

Servings:  2 1/2-3 cups

The following is one of those recipes where I tried it at a restaurant and immediately got on the internet to find the recipe.  But, it's not enough to find it, you've gotta figure out which one is the actual one from the restaurant and which ones are just someone's interpretation.  A lot of them called for molasses, but it just wasn't the same flavor.  This one I found from the Sacramento Bee and it's from one of Mimi's Cafe's managers who received permission to give the recipe out.  And it's delicious!  But, as you'll notice I omitted the nuts.  Sorry, but as you've read before (if you have) I do not like nuts in a lot of things.  So, just add some chopped walnuts if you like.

Mimi’s Café Carrot Raisin Bread

  

Ingredients:

·       1 3/4 cups flour 

·       1 cup sugar         

·       2 tsp. cinnamon

·       1 tsp. baking soda        

·       1/2 tsp. baking powder

·       1/2 tsp. salt         

·       1/2 cup milk       

·       1/2 cup vegetable oil

·       1 egg

·       1/2 tsp. vanilla   

·       1 cup grated carrot

·       1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

    Preheat oven to 350º.  Spray one standard loaf pan with cooking spray; set aside. 

    In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, oil, egg and vanilla.  Stir milk mixture into dry ingredients until well-blended.  Sprinkle carrot and raisins over batter and blend until evenly distributed. 

    Pour batter into pan and even out on top.  Bake 45-60 minutes or until a tester inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Cool in pans for five minutes on cooling rack and then remove from pan.

    Cool on rack for 15 more minutes before slicing. Serve warm.

Servings: 1 loaf

This next recipe is one of my all-time favorites-Angel Food Cake!  When I would make this as a kid, I always made two.  One for me and one for my family.  I'm not kidding, I would eat a whole Angel Food Cake.  Good thing it's considered one of the lightest desserts.  This is from Alton Brown of The Food Network.  It requires the use of a food processor to make the sugar superfine.  I use to be able to find superfine sugar at the grocery store, but lately I haven't.  I really wouldn't recommend you skip this step.  It's important to use superfine sugar to keep the texture light.  It also calls for orange extract which smells divine while it's baking.  I actually have visions of bridal showers when I smell this cake.  Lately I've been using Fiore di Sicilia, an extract from Italy.  I order it from King Arthur Flour.  It's a combination of Italian citruses and vanilla and has such a unique flavor and scent.  

The reason the recipe calls for the eggs to be as close to room temperature is because egg whites which actually whip up faster and better if they are room temperature.  Whipping cream is the opposite.  Whipping cream actually does better if you put the bowl and the whip in the freezer for a while, too!

It's kind of hard to see, but if you look close, the Angel Food Cake is on the stand with the cover.  Yumm!

Alton Brown’s Angel Food Cake

Ingredients:

·       1 3/4 cups sugar

·       1/4 tsp. salt         

·       1 cup cake flour, sifted

·       12 egg whites (the closer to room temperature the better)

·       1/3 cup warm water

·       1 tsp. orange extract    

·       1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar      

Directions:

    Preheat oven to 350º.

    In a food processor spin sugar about 2 minutes until it is superfine. Sift half of the sugar with the salt and the cake flour, setting the remaining sugar aside.

    In a mixer with the whisk, thoroughly combine egg whites, water, orange extract, and cream of tartar. Slowly sift in the reserved sugar, beating continuously at medium speed.

    Once you have achieved medium peaks, sift enough of the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold in gently. Continue until all of the flour mixture is incorporated.

    Carefully spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes (20 minutes for mini-cakes) before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer. (When inserted halfway between the inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry).

    Cool upside down on cooling rack for at least an hour before removing from pan.

    Cook’s Note: Since they’re easier to separate, use the freshest eggs you can get.

Servings:  10” cake or 12 mini-cakes

Vegetable Garden Update May 1, 2011

I've been doing a lot of planting the last few weeks in the vegetable garden.  I'm not exactly happy in the rush to plant at this time of year, but I'm fighting a couple factors.  The first one is that here in Las Vegas, it can go from pretty cold to very hot in the blink of an eye and most vegetables don't set fruit once it reaches 90+ degrees. I can usually coax them to produce, but that takes a lot of work and water.  So, sometimes you gotta start early.

Secondly, the plant nurseries and big box stores want you to hurry up and plant so when the April cold snap comes through and damages/kills your plants, you have to go back and buy more.  While I usually resist the initial planting when we get that beautiful 80+ degree week that fools everyone that this April will be different (although it never is), I was searching for some specific varieties that usually go fast.

Now normally getting the specific varieties that I want isn't a problem because I normally start my own transplants from seed.  But, this year I decided to do majority transplants from the stores because a) it takes a lot of work to start from seed at the scale that I plant and b) my attention span always bites me in the butt every year and I decided to stop beating myself up every year about it.

Now that is the 1st of May, you can do a majority of planting, but realize you can still get some vicious weather coming through, so you may have some casualties.  My secret weapon for transplant shock and damaged plants:  Vitamin B1 or sometimes known as Transplant Shock Tonic.  I always have a gallon container on hand.  You can find this at Lowe's or Home Depot, but you may have to search for it.  Don't be afraid to ask store personnel to find it for you, because it will become your best friend!  Just follow the directions and you will be amazed at the results!  Following are pictures of my 6 raised planters that contain all my vegetable/fruit/herb plants.  And of course, they were all done with the Square Foot Gardening Method.

This is Planter 1 which contains the following from left to right. Row 1: 2 Marigolds/2 Nasturtiums, 16 Crimson Giant Radishes, 1 Peppermint, 8 Crimson Giant/8 Cook's Custom Mix Radishes, 1 Peppermint, 16 Cook's Custom Mix Radishes and 2 Marigolds/2 Nasturtiums.  Row 2: 4 Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, 4 Parris Island Romaine, 4 Rosalita Lettuce, 1 Greek Oregano, 4 Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, 4 Parris Island Romaine, and 4 Rosalita Lettuce.  Row 3: 1 Sugar Baby Watermelon, 1 Sugar Baby Watermelon, 1 Hale's Best Jumbo Cantaloupe, 1 Cantaloupe.  The next 3 squares will contain 2 cucumber plants each totaling 6 plants. The back row will have netted trellises for the melons and cucumbers to climb.

Planter 2 Front Row: 1 Marigold/2 Nasturtiums, 2 Cilantro, 9 Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach, 1 Sweet Marjoram, 9 Teton Hybrid Spinach, 2 Cilantro, 2 Marigolds/2 Nasturtiums. Row 2: 1 Serrano Pepper, 1 Serrano Pepper, 1 Jalapeno pepper, 1 Jalapeno pepper, 1 Bell Boy Green/Red Pepper, 1 Bell Boy Green/Red Pepper, 1 Golden Cal Wonder Pepper.  Row 3: 1 Anaheim pepper, 1 Toma Verde Tomatillo plant in the next 5 squares, and 1 Golden Cal Wonder pepper.

Planter 3 Row 1:  2 marigolds/2 nasturtiums, 16 Sweet Treat Carrots, 1 Large Italian Flat-leaf parsley, 9 Bloomsdale Long Standing spinach, 9 Teton Hybrid spinach, 8 Red Cored Chantenay Carrots, 2 marigolds/2 nasturtiums. Row 2:  16 Parade Green Bunching onions, 4 Parris Island Romaine, 4 Rosalita Lettuce, 4Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, 4 Rosalita Lettuce, 4 Parris Island Romaine, and 8 Georgia Sweet Onions. Row 3: First 4 squares contain in each 8 Super Sugar Snap Peas totaling 32 plants and next 3 squares contain 8 Snowbird Snow Peas totaling 24.

Planter 4 Row 1:  1 Straightneck Yellow Squash, 1 English Thyme, 1 Dill, 2 marigolds/2 nasturtiums, 1 basil, 1 purple basil, 1 butternut squash.  Row 2:  1 spaghetti squash, the next 5 squares will contain 3 varieties of dwarf sunflower (Happy Smile, Teddy Bear & Zebulon) and each square will have 2 plants each, and 1 butternut squash.  Row 3:  1 Zucchini Squash, 1 Mammoth Sunflower, 1 Zucchini squash, 1 Mammoth sunflower, 1 Zucchini Gold squash, 1 Mammoth sunflower, and 1 Zucchini Gold Squash.

Planter 5 Row 1:  Super San Marzano paste tomato, 4 marigolds, 1 Sweet Dani lemon basil, 1 parsley, 1 basil, 4 marigolds and 1 Sweet 100 cherry tomato.  Row 2:  1 Super San Marzano paste tomato, 1 Black Beauty eggplant, 1 Black Beauty eggplant, 1 Greek oregano, 1 Gretal eggplant, 1 Ichiban eggplant, 1 Large Red cherry tomato. Row 3:  1 Brandywine Pink tomato, 1 Early Girl tomato, 1 Hawaiian tomato, 1 Cherokee Purple tomato, 1 Roma paste tomato, 1 Roma paste tomato and 1 Sweet 100 cherry tomato.

Planter 6:  all squares will contain 1 Silver Queen corn plant which I just planted via seed.  

As you might have noticed, just about every planter contains marigolds and nasturtiums.  They are a very important defense against insects. Both of these flowers repel bad insects and attract the good ones (honestly, there are good insects!). You can use just about any variety of nasturtium, but you'll want to use French marigolds. They are smaller so I can fit 4 in a square foot alone or 2 in a square with 2 nasturtiums. They also have a stronger scent so they are more effective.  Once the marigolds have run their course for the season, dig them into the soil so they can do double duty by repelling bad nematodes that dwell in your soil.  You'll want to fit a lot of marigolds near your tomatoes.  They are amazing at repelling bad bugs from them.  

Some squares may appear empty because I have not planted that particular veggie/herb yet due to being too cold.  It also may be because I have started that plant by seed. Some plants do better started by seed because they don't react well to transplanting and some just grow so darn fast it saves you money to start by seed.  These are the following I always start by seed:  lettuce/romaine, spinach, nasturtiums, radishes, cilantro, peas, beans, green onions, carrots, sunflowers, and corn.  

Some varieties I use a technique called succession planting. This is a technique where you stagger the planting of seeds. For example, I can plant 9 spinach plants in 1 square and 16 carrots in 1 square. If I plant them all at once, they will be mature all at once. I don't necessarily want to eat 9 spinach plants and 16 carrots at once.  So if 1 square can hold 9 spinach plants, I will plant 1 row of 3 plants within the square 1 week and the next week the next row and so on.  That way they mature as I need them.  And, as I pull them to eat, I plant another set of seeds in those plants' place!  Another example of succession planting is placing 2 different plants in 1 square.  For example, peas seeds can be started pretty early. They will germinate even in cold soil.  So I will plant a row of 8 seeds per square (at the back of the square) in late February or early March.  They don't like heat so they will have probably produced the majority of their pods when the heat starts to hit.  Now green beans don't like as cold as soil and can produce through the summer so I'll plant 8 pole beans at the end of April/beginning of May per square in the middle of the same squares as the peas.  Once the peas start phasing out, the beans will take over their spot.  

Another technique I use that may be hard to see in the pictures is vertical growing.  At the back of most planters and some on the sides, are trellises with netting for the plants to grow up in.  I use this technique for the following:  mini watermelon, melons, cucumbers, tomatillos, peas, beans, squash, and tomatoes.  All of these plants either sprawled all over the garden taking up valuable space or needed to be caged of which the plants soon outgrew.  Trellises keep the produce off the ground where soil born diseases and insects can get to them without you knowing. Also by growing up, the plants will get better air circulation and keep leaves drier which can be a problem especially with cucumbers.  This technique also forces the plants to produce thicker stems to hold the weight of the fruit which pumps in more nutrients and flavor to them. When my melons get closer to maturity, I make a sling out of old pantyhose to hold the fruit so they don't drop to the ground and split open. For my tomatoes, I like to use trellises because some tomato varieties can get up to 6' tall and most cages are only 4' tall.  Trellises also allow you to see more of the plant so you can find the evil tomato horn worm easier allowing me to feed them to my chickens and die a horrible death!  Sorry, I got a bit carried away!

I think that's about it for now.  Really consider giving Square Foot Gardening a chance.  You'll be amazed what you can fit in such a small space.  Aren't you amazed how many varieties I grow in mine?  Feel free to ask me any questions, any time about your gardens.  I many not be a total expert for your zone, but will do my best to answer you.  Thanks and enjoy!

Pasta alla Puttanesca with Molasses Drop Cookies

I have been meaning to try this recipe, not only for it's interesting ingredients, but because of the name which translates to Prostitutes Pasta.  My kids were horrified when I told them what it meant and that I was going to make something that was popular with prostitutes.  I'm quirky that way.  Supposedly this was a favorite recipe of the prostitutes because it was a sauce that could be made up quickly and had great flavor.  The ingredients vary from region to region.  What's held me back from trying it was because a lot of the recipes called for anchovies and capers, two ingredients I don't have a lot of experience with.  This one is from Lucinda Scala Quinn (again!) and calls for the capers (but no anchovies) and olives (black and green).  It's kind of spicy (but not too much) and has a very interesting and very good flavor.  My daughter and her friend actually really liked it.

I have learned the value of soaking and rinsing capers.  If you don't, it can be disastrous to your recipe.  For this recipe, I soaked them in cold water while I prepped the rest of the ingredients and then rinsed them.  As I got to the bottom of the plate the pasta was coated with more of the sauce and I could taste the capers a bit more.  If you don't like the taste of them that much, I would reduce them to 2 tablespoons instead of 3, but do not omit them.  You need them to balance the olives and red pepper flake flavors and add some saltiness.  Also, if your sensitive to the red pepper flakes, you can just use 1/4 teaspoon total instead of 1/2.

You may be wondering why the green olives are coarsely chopped and the black olives are thinly sliced.  This is strictly for giving some variety in color and shape in the sauce.  I think it gives it a nice look.  When I bought the green olives there were several choices.  I made the mistake of buying the ones that aren't pitted.  Pay attention to that because it's a pain slicing away the olive meat from the pit.  For the black olives, there was only the canned variety, no fancy types.  That's what I used and it was fine.

In Lucinda's recipe, she uses bucatini pasta.  This is a large-style spaghetti that is hollow in the center.  I liked the bucatini, but it was hard to twirl onto our forks.  You would get it nice and wound and then would unloop itself.  If you think this would be a problem, you can use a large-style or regular size spaghetti.

Lucinda Scala Quinn’s Pasta alla Puttanesca

Ingredients:

·       1 1/2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

·       2 cloves garlic, minced

·       1/2 cup black olives, such as Gaeta or Nicoise, rinsed, pitted, and thinly sliced

·       1/2 cup green olives Italian-style, rinsed, pitted, and coarsely chopped

·       3 tbsp. capers, preferably salt-packed, thoroughly soaked and rinsed

·       1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, plus more for serving

·       28 oz. can best-quality tomatoes, half pureed, half roughly crushed

·       1 sprig fresh basil, plus more for garnish

·       1/2 tsp. dried oregano

·       1 pound large size or regular spaghetti

·       freshly grated Parmesan cheese

·       Molasses Drops Cookies (see recipe), for serving

Directions:

    Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

    Place olive oil and garlic in a large saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the garlic begins to sizzle but not brown, about 30 seconds. Add the olives, capers, and 1/4 teaspoon of the red pepper flakes. Add the pureed and crushed tomatoes, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for15 minutes. Add the basil sprig, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, and the oregano and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

    Meanwhile, generously salt the boiling water. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm. Set the timer for 2 minutes less than the package instructions specify and taste for doneness. Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve with additional red pepper flakes, grated Parmesan cheese, and freshly torn basil leaves.

Servings:  4-6

In the same episode, Lucinda made her version of Molasses Drop Cookies.  She had inherited the family recipe box and found several variations of the recipe.  What this told her was that it's great to have recipes passed down from generation to generation, but also that you've gotta make it your own.  For her variation, she rolled them in white sanding sugar which not only makes them pretty but also gives them a nice crunch.  She also added candied orange peel.  I couldn't find any candied orange peel and didn't have time to order some.  I did have some orange baking emulsion in the pantry which I'm sure all of you happen to have.  But if you don't and can't find the candied orange peel like me, maybe add some orange extract which you can normally find at the grocery store.  I really think they need the orange flavor because it balances out the brown sugar and molasses which can be a bit heavy when combined.  The orange gave it freshness and made it more kid friendly.  

A tool I highly recommend for this recipe, is a scoop.  She has you scooping out about a tablespoon of dough and then rolling it into a ball.  The problem I had with that is that this dough is pretty sticky.  So what I did was scoop out the dough with a small scoop and drop it directly into a dish of white sanding sugar.  I then moved the dish around to coat the dough with the sugar.  Another item I recommend is parchment paper.  You line your cookie sheet with the parchment paper and when they are done baking, just slide the parchment off the cookie sheet onto your cooling rack.  No more waiting for them to cool (and continue baking) and then lifting off the cookies one by one onto the rack.  You can eat them while they are still warm, but not all flavors will come out in the taste, especially the orange flavor.  They really are best if you allow them to cool completely.

Lucinda Scala Quinn’s Molasses Drop Cookies

Ingredients:

·       1 3/4 cups flour

·       1/2 tsp. baking soda

·       1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

·       1/2 tsp. coarse salt

·       1/4 tsp. ground ginger

·       1/8 tsp. ground cloves

·       1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

·       2 oz. (4 tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted

·       1/4 cup unsulfured molasses

·       1/4 cup whole milk

·       1 large egg, lightly beaten

·       1/4 cup finely chopped candied orange peel

·       sanding sugar, for rolling

Directions:

    Preheat oven to 375º. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and cloves. Whisk in brown sugar. Stir in melted butter, molasses, milk, and egg. Fold in candied orange peel.

    Roll 1 tablespoon or 1/2 teaspoon dough into a ball. Roll in sanding sugar, and transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough. Chill in refrigerator for 5 minutes. Flatten each ball with the bottom of a glass. Bake for 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks, and let cool.

    Cook's Note:  Cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Servings:  3 dozen large or 18 dozen small

Steak Pizzaiola

I made this a while ago, but I guess I forgot to blog about it.  Even though it's been a while, I can still remember how yummy it tastes!  This is a pretty simple recipe but yields a lot of flavor.

You start off by browning the chuck steak and make sure you really brown it because that's part of building the flavor.  A neat thing about this recipe, you're only using 2 pans for it.  One for the chuck steak and sauce and the other to cook the pasta.  It'll take a few hours to complete, but the majority of that time is spent in the oven.  For the pasta, I would recommend penne pasta.  Real meaty sauces seem to call for this tube shape pastas.  Actually I don't have much more to say about it, because it's that easy.  Enjoy!

Lucinda Scala Quinn’s Steak Pizzaiola

Ingredients:

·       2 1/2 lb. bone-in chuck steak, or 2 pounds if boneless

·       1 tsp. coarse salt

·       freshly ground black pepper

·       2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

·       3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced

·       1 tbsp. tomato paste

·       28 oz. can whole tomatoes, with juice

·       1 tsp. dried oregano

·       1 tsp. dried thyme

·       1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

·       cooked tube pasta of your choice

Directions:

    Preheat the oven to 325º. Season the meat on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over high heat and swirl in the olive oil. Brown the meat on both sides. Remove the meat from the skillet and take the pan off the heat.

    Stir into the pan the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 30 seconds.  Add the whole tomatoes, oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes. Mash up the tomatoes with a large fork, return the meat to the pan, spoon the sauce over it, and cover tightly.

    Braise in the oven for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Uncover and cook in the oven for an additional 30 minutes, until the sauce has thickened up.

    In the meantime, bring a pot of water to a boil, add salt and cook pasta of choice according to package directions.  Reserve some water before draining in case sauce is too thick.

    Note:  Serve this tender, fall-off-the-bone meat with bread and polenta. You can also present it as a "sauce" by shredding the meat, mixing it with the leftover tomatoes from the pan, and tossing with pasta.

Servings:  6-8