JANUARY 26, 2009 - SUPER BOWL CHILI

 Greetings Cookbook Fans!

I do hope you all enjoy reading these blogs as much as I enjoy writing them. And since we are a nation that is constantly on the go with one major event happening after another, it seems there is always plenty of material to choose from. One of which is the annual SUPER BOWL, the ultimate football playoff to celebrate the World Champs.

This coming week millions of fans will root for their respective teams, the Pitsburgh Steelers or the Arizona Cardinals. Everyone and everybody will try to capitalize on this event, especially the food industry. Just look in your community newspaper and you will see, Super Bowl appetizers, Super Bowl snacks, and Super Bowl cakes, just to name a few.

Of course *Rosalie Serving Country*, upcoming cookbook, could not be left unnoticed. Since last weeks INAUGURATION PASTA featured the Italian Cuisine, I though this week's SUPER BOWL, would show off the Country Cuisine.

With family, friends, and neighbors all gathered around the game, either before, during or after, I wanted to feature a dish that would please everyone. A dish that could withstand every offense, stomach the fumbles, hit the sidelines, catch the flavor, devour the coaches, lift the spirits and burn up the Astroturf. Yes, it must be CHILI…SUPER BOWL CHILI!

It has to feature a good grade of beef, chili hot beans, rich tomato gravy, and loaded with an array of chili flavors all put together to score a touchdown. My chili recipe will be the star of the evening! Just picture a huge pot of simmering chili on the stove where guests can come and fill their bowls with the magic of cure-all jitters. Topped with a big spoonful of cheddar cheese, sour cream and chopped green onions, and accompanied with Frito Lays for the crunch, they won't care which teams wins. After two, three or even four bowls, I figure the smoke alarms will go off and detract even the most die-hard fan, where everyone will jump for joy and no one will suffer defeat…Yes, SUPER BOWL CHILI it must be!

So, there you have folks, forget your troubles for awhile and root for your team. If you are not a football fan, then have fun with your family anyway and celebrate the one's you love. Remember, I always say and do believe, "Food is a bridge to relationships." Do something different, and invite your family, long lost friend, or neglected neighbor over, and why not for CHILI? Look for my recipe, *Rosalie's Five Star Chili* on my blog or WEEKLY RECIPE, and have fun!

Click on my website for upcoming events, and join me in a cooking class or book signing near you.

www.rosalieservingitalian.com.

So long, and God Bless!

Rosalie

 

SUPER BOWL CHILI

SUPER BOWL CHILI

NOTE: Chili can be basic or extravagant, depending on one of the many recipes one chooses to use. This chili is very basic and can be made to your liking by adding more or less spices. A great chili, with lots of savory flavor, and very easy to cook up.  Garnish with mild or cheddar cheese and serve with Frito Lays on the side.  Expecting a big crowd?  Just double the recipe

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

2 tablespoons mild olive oil

Coarse garlic salt with dried parsley

1 small onion, chopped

1 (15-ounce) can whole or diced tomatoes, juice included

2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce

 

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 bay leaves

2 cans Brooks Chili Beans, mild or hot, as desired

1 cup water or more if needed

1 (1.25-ounce) packet McCormick's Original Chili seasoning mix

Or seasoning mix of your choice

salt and pepper to taste.

2 cups cooked small shells, optional

shredded cheddar cheese for garnish

dollop of sour cream for topping

chopped green onions for topping, optional

 

Frito Lays on the side

 

 1. In large saucepan sauté ground beef in oil until no longer pink. Drain oil from meat in strainer. Return to an 8-quart pot and sprinkle meat liberally with garlic salt.

2. Add chopped onion to meat and cook together for 5 minutes, until onion becomes limp. Add diced tomatoes, sauce, sugar, pepper and bay leaves. Let mixture come to a soft boil.

3. Add the chili beans, water, and chili seasoning mix. Put lid on chili and let simmer for about 35 minutes. Add a little water if too thick. Stir chili occasionally and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve in soup bowls over small shells if desired and garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, dollop of sour cream and green onions on top, if desired.  Add Frito Lays on the  side. Serves 6.

JANUARY 19, 2009 - INAUGURATION PASTA

JANUARY 19, 2009 - INAUGURATION PASTA

Buon giorno and Good Day!

Well, my fellow Americans, could we be more surrounded by History than right now? With today being the Martin Luther King Holiday and tomorrow the 2009 Inauguration of the first African American President, Barrack Obama, it seems the "I Have a Dream" speech may have come full circle.

I don't know about you, but I love hearing all the wonderful American stories of success, dreams come true, how great our country is, and how Americans always come together to stand against every adversary. Some of us may not have got the candidate we had hoped for, but we all realize that America is still the greatest country on earth, and with God's sanction, I pray we can all live peaceably with one another while praying for those who have the rule over us.

All that said, I say what America needs is PASTA! Do we need Change? How about *Ziti with Spicy Pesto*? Or Hope? How about the ever popular, *Penne with Red Sauce and Meatballs*? Yes, this is Change we can believe in! What else could possibly chase away the economic blues, or silence the skeptics of doomsday? You got that right, a big plate of *Fettuccini Alfredo.*

So, I say, Celebrate America! Cook up some INAUGURATION PASTA! Even if you've been on the resolution diet, the way I look at it, one plate of pasta can't hurt, and it will definitely bring you more comfort then that grilled chicken salad you've had the last three nights.

Of course the perfect patriotic Pasta dish would have to be *Rosalie's Angel Hair Florentine.* Just picture the White angel hair with the plump Red cherry tomatoes over grilled chicken and spinach. For the Blue, I decided there was only one thing to do. Just use one drop of blue food coloring in a small bowl of Parmesan Cheese until it is a beautiful Flag-blue color and sprinkle it over the Pasta dish! How about that for INAUGURATION PASTA?

So, there you have it "my friends," as John McCain would say; just gather 'round the media of your choice tomorrow, and be comforted! Invite your family and friends over and eat PASTA! If you have my cookbook, *Rosalie Serving Italian, * the recipe, *Rosalie's Angel Hair Florentine* is on page 141. If not, look for it on the WEEKLY RECIPE on my website blog

www.rosalieservingitalian.com

Arrivederci, and Good Night, and may God Bless America!

Rosalie

ROSALIE’S ANGEL HAIR FLORENTINE

 ROSALIE'S ANGEL HAIR FLORENTINE

NOTE: This is a great pasta dish with a light oil sauce featuring garlic sautéed chicken, plump cherry tomatoes and fresh spinach over angel hair pasta. A dish to celebrate any occasion, even a presidential inauguration!

1 (12-ounce) package angel hair pasta

1 tablespoon salt

1 to 2 cups reserved pasta water

 

2 skinless chicken breasts

Lawry's garlic salt with parsley added

1 cup olive oil, divided

 

5 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped fine

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 (9-ounce) bag fresh spinach

   Cleaned and air-dried

1 cup grape tomatoes

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Freshly ground coarse black pepper

Extra olive oil for garnish

1. Rinse chicken breasts in cold water; pat dry. Sprinkle both sides liberally with the coarse garlic salt. Sauté breasts in ¼ cup olive oil, more if needed, for 10 to 12 minutes turning occasionally, until tender. Put lid on chicken and steam for 2 minutes longer to retain juice. Cut into small pieces; set aside.

2. Add chopped garlic to remaining ¾ cup olive oil and place in large saucepan, enough to hold both sauce and pasta. Heat garlic gently, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken, spinach and tomatoes. Stir together until heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Boil pasta in an 8-quart pot boiling water with salt added. Cook angel hair 3 to 4 minutes. Do not overcook. Using a spaghetti spoon, lift pasta right out of water and place it in the pan with the sauce, chicken, tomatoes and spinach. Salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 to 2 cups pasta water and stir together well.

4. Transfer to large pasta platter. Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and some freshly ground black pepper. Provide extra olive oil at the table, if desired. Serves 4 to 6.

 

 

 

 

HOMEMADE ITALIAN BREAD

HOMEMADE ITALIAN BREAD

 

Note:  This recipe was made many times by my mother, Ann Fiorino, and is especially wonderful eaten right out of the oven with butter or olive oil and cheese.  It is also great served with her *Italian Beef Soup* recipe. Both recipes are included in my *Rosalie Serving Italian* cookbook, found on pages 50 and 97.

 

6 1/2 to 7 cups bread flour, or all-purpose

3 teaspons salt

 

2 tablespoons active dry yeast

2 1/4 cups warm water, not hot to touch, more if needed

 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 (14-inch) pizza stone

2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal

 

1 egg white

1 tablespoon water

sesame seeds

 

1. Preheat oven to 400-degrees. Place 6 1/2 cups flour and salt in large bowl and mix together. Put yeast in warm water and stir to dissolve, letting it foam up, about 8 minutes.  Make a well in the flour mixture and add a little of the yeast water with a small amount of flour, working together and setting to side of bowl.  Continue until all the flour and water have been used.  Bring all the dough together; Add more flour or water if needed in order to work the dough together.  Knead the dough 8 to 10 minutes until dough feels elastic. Pour olive over dough, turning to coat both sides. Place in bowl and put towel over dough; let rise in warm place, 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until doubled in size.

 

2. Punch dough down.  Let dough rise another 1 hour if time permits. After second rising, punch dough down and divide into three parts, shaping each part into loaves. Sprinkle cornmeal on stone and place loaves 2-inches apart.  Let rise to double in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

 

3. Beat the egg white, and 1 tablespoon water until foamy; brush over the top of each loaf and sprinkile with sesame seeds.  Make 2 to 3 cuts across the top of each loaf with a serated-edge knife.  Place bread in oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

GOT THE BLUES? BAKE BREAD!

GOT THE BLUES? BAKE BREAD!

Buon giorno and Good Day!

Having the privilege to be one of the teachers at the Dierbergs School of Cooking, here in St. Louis, MO and Edwardsville, IL, I have the opportunity to meet many wonderful men and women, all of whom have a great desire to be better cooks. I feel that they teach me as well as I try to teach them. The classes are two hours, and we try to demonstrate as many dishes as we can. The theme for this quarter is "Rosalie's Sicilian Classics," and the menu consists of: *Italian Wedding Soup* - *Tiny Meatballs* *Italian Crusted Chicken* - *Rosalie's Italian Salad* - *Homemade Italian Bread* and *Pineapple Upside Down Cake*.

Because I was raised in a fun-loving family, my father being quite the jokester, I start off each class with a joke or two to lighten the atmosphere. Teaching at the Bogey Hills Dierbergs in St. Charles, MO, last Thursday, I started the class with the following:

Two cannibals were eating lunch when one of them spoke up and said, "I really don't like my mother-in-law." The other cannibal quickly responded, "Well, just eat the noodles."

Since I was making the *Italian Wedding Soup,* I assured the class that I was on good terms with all my family members…they all laughed yet again. So with everyone all relaxed, I demonstrated one of the greatest foods since Bible Times….Homemade Bread. It seems for the last year of teaching cooking classes one item is always repeated…Homemade Bread. Everyone wants to learn the secret, which I must say is so simple…the more you do it, the better you get at it.

I actually start the dough at my home before class, so it only has to rise into beautiful loaves while I show the class how to make the bread. While the bread is baking, the aroma fills the class and seems to chase every bothersome woe right out of the room. I tell the class every time I make bread that no matter how bad everyone's day can possibly be, or even if mom, dad, and kids are about to kill each other, the aroma of the fresh baking bread will resolve it all.

Thinking of my dear mother today along with the chilly January air, I decided to make her awesome *Italian Beef Soup* along with her *Tiny Meatballs,* found on page 50 in *Rosalie Serving Italian* cookbook. This was a comfort soup like no other that warmed both body and soul. I choose the *Pizza Dough* recipe on page 114, and made it into bread because it was a shorter process ( for regular bread, use recipe on page 97.) As I said before, my husband quickly discovered the baking bread and said, "Oh, something smells wonderful!"

As I dipped up the soup, and cut the hot bread, the cold air outside and the bills on the table suddenly didn't matter. Happiness is sharing the good things with the ones you love, so bake that Bread!

Click on my website,

www.rosalieservingitalian.com for upcoming events, and look for the Italian Beef Soup recipe. God Bless, and have a great week,

Rosalie

 

SIMPLE TILL SIX

SIMPLE TILL SIX - JANUARY 3, 2009

Greetings, and Happy New Year to all the faithful fans of *Rosalie

Serving Italian* and hopefully this year, *Rosalie Serving Country*

Cookbooks.  Having all my family in for the holidays gave me great

opportunity to try some of the new country recipes I am testing for

the Country Cookbook.

One of these recipes was the *Mustard Greens Supreme,* which is just a

big pot of greens cooked up in pork such as bacon, ham hocks, or salt

pork.  Our community market, *Sugar Grove Growers,* right here in

Troy, MO, has a green house and happens to raise their own mustard

greens.   Seeing them, I quickly thought "what a great country dish,"

and promptly brought them home.

Cooked with thick sliced bacon, onion and garlic, and simmered in a

chicken stock with cider vinegar added for the "bite", they were so

delicious!  My oldest grandchild, Taylor, almost ate the whole pot, so

I had to repeat the dish again in order for everyone to have a taste.

After the cookies, candy, pies and cheesecakes, one's palate gets

tired of all the sugar and welcomes some down-earth soups, salads and

stews.  The five pounds we all gained are starting to manifest and the

words "diet and exercise" strongly come to mind.

In all, my well meanings for a new diet gig, I always seem to fall off

the wagon two weeks into the New Year.  But I must say the *The Simple

Till Six

* did catch my eye that the famous Mark Bittman, (How to Cook

Everything), wrote about in this month's Readers Digest.  He really

wasn't meaning to diet, but at 59 years of age he somehow woke up with

high cholesterol, high blood sugars, and sleep apnea.

The doctor said these three could be remedied by taking cholesterol-

lowing drugs or eat less meat, drugs for the blood sugar, or eat fewer

sweets, and for the apnea, lose 15 percent of his body weight.

Mark chose to do a very simple thing.  Until dinner at six, he ate

almost no animal products and no simple carbs which included no white-

flour products, no junk food or sugar-heavy snacks.  For breakfast he

began eating oatmeal or cracked wheat, fruit salad or vegetables.

For lunch: beans, grilled or roasted vegetables, salad, fruit or

nuts.  In between snacks: Fresh fruits, nuts or grains.  For dinner at

six: a sizeable meal including most anything he wanted; meat,

vegetables, bread, soup, dessert or even pasta.

For exercise he went on long walks each week, but was limited because

of his bad knees.  Just trying to lower his cholesterol and blood

sugars, Mark lost 15 pounds a month later.  His cholesterol went from

240 to 180 and his blood sugars were down.  No more sleep apnea, he

was sleeping through the night. Within four months he lost more than

35 pounds.

So, there you have it folks.  Cook up the Mustard Greens and eat them

at six with the Cornbread and savor the Chopped Steak with Gravy.

Just a thought!  See you at the Rendezvous Café Cooking Class in

O'Fallon, MO.  on January 12, 6:00 to 8:30PM.   Call for reservation:

636- 272-8687. Our Menu:  Italian Soups, Salads, and Sweets.

Have a blessed and happy New Year,

Rosalie

MUSTARD GREENS SUPREME

MUSTARD GREENS SUPREME

NOTE: This dish is great on cold days and goes well with fried chops or chicken. Some people even make a meal with them, and served with a big pan of cornbread, you'll feel right at home at any country table. A recipe from my upcoming book, *Rosalie Serving Country*, any one of the following greens can be used: mustard, kale, collards or Swiss chard. For a healthier version, omit the bacon and use 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, or more if needed.

1 large heavy pot or Dutch oven

2 pounds mustard greens, tough stems removed, and washed several times

½ pound thick sliced bacon

1 to 2 small onions, chopped small

2 cloves garlic, chopped small

 

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoon cider vinegar

 

2 cups Kitchen Basics low-sodium chicken broth

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash greens several times in cool water and rinse well to remove any dirt or sand; drain in colander. Place on wooden chopping block and cut tough stems from leaves. Cut greens crosswise in 3 to 4-inch pieces; set aside.

2. Chop bacon into small 1-inch pieces; place in heavy saucepan and fry until crisp. Transfer bacon and drippings to large heavy pot or Dutch oven and add onion and garlic. Let the onion and garlic sauté in the bacon and drippings for about 5 to 6 minutes or until the onion is golden. Add the salt and vinegar and let simmer for few seconds.

3. Add the mustard greens, chicken broth, red pepper flakes and pepper. Toss the greens with the bacon mixture. Cover the pot and let the greens come to a soft boil. Cook for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until desired tenderness. Some green are thicker and need a longer time to cook. Taste greens and add any additional salt or pepper as desired.