Italian Beef

It's such a great time for sports right now:  football, baseball, and hockey, all at the same time. And one of my favorite things to eat on any game day is Italian Beef.

It’s hot, spicy, peppery, garlicky beef roast cooked with pepperoncini rings, on a (sorta) crusty but also chewy sub roll, and here are your choices:  HOT  - topped with Giardinera (Italian pickled vegetables with a bite) and pepperoncini rings …..SWEET – topped with Italian sweet peppers…WET (the roll dipped in the juice that the meat is cooked in)…or DRY (not dipped).  No surprise, I like mine SWEET, HOT, AND WET.

The best Italian Beef I ever had happened by accident.  I found myself at Streeter Tavern on Rush, in Chicago. They don't serve food but Downtown Dogs is next door and they let you order from there.  Awesome!  And they had Italian Beef.  Double yay!  It was the spiciest, pepperiest version I ever had and my lips were ON FIRE even while we were walking back to the hotel in the stinging cold.  Delicious.  This recipe is just like that. 

Chicago is a friendly city, and it loves its food and sports. So it's fitting that all the dishes it’s known for, especially this one, are meant to be shared.  So get your crockpot out and call your funnest friends.  The times I’ve spent in the city sharing friendship, food, love, and laughter are some of the best of my life—I wish the same for you :)

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WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

a crockpot

1    3.5--4.5 pound rump roast

1    12 ounce jar sliced pepperoncini rings (plus a little juice)

1 packet dry Italian Dressing packet (I use Good Seasons)

1 can beef consommé

1/2 - 1  teaspoon each:  salt, cracked black pepper, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder

1 small onion, peeled and quartered 

Sandwich rolls

Toppings:  sweet pepper rings, Giardiniera

Serve with chips or fries, and ice cold beer

The Goods:  sweet and hot

Trim roast of fat and place in crockpot.  Sprinkle seasonings and dressing packet over roast.  Pour consommé over and around the roast.   Add a splash of pepperoncini juice, then drain the reminder of the jar and pour pepperoncini over and around roast.   Add quartered onion.  Cover, and cook on low for 7.5 -- 8 hours.  Longer if your roast is bigger.  It's done when it can be shredded.

Remove meat to pan and shred with 2 forks. 

shredded, with the pepperoncini and onion that it cooked in

Place back into juice briefly for flavor, and then ladle meat back into pan. Save juices for dipping.

Sandwich rolls should be split, but not all the way through.  Place in microwave for a few seconds to warm.  Add meat and toppings.  Dip in juice if desired and eat immediately.

sweet, hot, and wet

Grilled Plum and Nectarine Salad

When I was growing up, my grandmother had a wooden bowl of plums and nectarines on the kitchen table every day in the summer.  The breeze would blow through the screen door in late afternoon and carry with it the smell of fresh ripe fruit that would permeate the house with its sweetness, heavenly!  

This salad is the perfect way to usher in Fall and use the last of the seasonal fruit.  It's a good light lunch on its own, or as a first course with grilled chicken or roasted pork.  And do I even need to tell you it's a natural pairing with a chilled glass of bubbly prosecco?  It is, just in case you’re wondering  :)

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Serves 4

(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

3 nectarines, halved and pitted (you can also use peaches or apricots)

4 plums, halved and pitted

1 ball fresh mozzarella, torn into bite-size pieces with your hands

1 container baby arugula

prosciutto di parma, torn into pieces 

balsamic glaze

olive oil

fresh lemon juice (maybe 1/2 of a lemon)

salt/pepper

pinch of brown sugar 

grill or grill pan

Brush cut sides of fruit with a very little bit of olive oil.  Grill on both sides until nice char marks form. Remove and sprinkle cut sides of fruit with a pinch of brown sugar.  If the halves are too big, cut into quarters.  Set aside and let cool for approx. 10 minutes.

Place arugula in a large bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil and a fresh squeeze of lemon juice, mix together.  Season with fresh salt and pepper.  Lay out on platter.

On top of arugula, place fruit, mozzarella, and pieces of prosciutto.

Drizzle all with balsamic glaze and serve immediately.

BBQ Sundae

                         

All your favorite barbecue foods in one place...on one fork...in every bite.  Heaven!  Creamy macaroni and cheese, tangy baked beans, spice-rubbed pulled pork, and vinegary coleslaw, piled on top of each other, and topped off with a dill pickle! 

The pork cooks itself in the crockpot, and you can buy the rest.  I serve mine in small mason jars, but if you're having a few friends over for Labor Day Weekend, you can assemble them in clear plastic cups and your guests can just throw them away when they're done--EASY!

Barbecue, cold beer, your closest friends, and no dishes to wash...it really doesn't get any better than this :)

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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

your favorite macaroni and cheese

your favorite baked beans

your favorite coleslaw
your favorite barbecue sauce

small dill pickles

corn muffins or Texas Toast

For pulled pork:
crock pot
1 5-6 pound pork butt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons table salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons sugar
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard 
2 small onions, peeled and quartered

Put onions in bottom of crockpot.

Mix brown sugar, both paprikas, salt and pepper, and rub all over pork roast with your hands.  Place roast in crock pot on top of onions.

This is a Western Carolina sauce so it's a vinegar base, not a tomatoey one.
In large measuring cup, mix: vinegar, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and dry mustard. Stir well and pour approx. 1/3 - 1/2 of the mixture over the roast.  Save remaining sauce for later.  Cover and cook on low approx.  8-10 hours.

When pork is fork tender, remove to large pan and shred with 2 forks.  Add some more sauce to it and mix.

Cook macaroni and cheese and baked beans.  Get coleslaw ready and put out with the pulled pork.  Layer your sundae like this:  macaroni and cheese on the bottom, baked beans, pulled pork, some barbecue sauce if you think it needs it, top with coleslaw and a pickle.

Serve with corn muffins or Texas Toast.

barbecue heaven

Rum Punch

It's been my experience that all you need is a double batch of this punch, some solo cups, and someone special to watch the sunset with.  Memories will be made my friends, trust me  :)

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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

1 64-oz can pineapple juice
1/2 cup coconut rum
1 cup dark rum

Make this the morning of the day that you want to serve it.  
Mix all ingredients together, and chill in the refrigerator.

Serve cold, over ice.

Italian Sausage and Red Pepper Hash with Fried Eggs

 

Such a great summer!  Little get-togethers abound again with graduation parties, birthdays, backyard barbecues, and small gatherings for drinks and nibbles with friends to catch up on what you missed last year.

I've made this dish at least 5 times this summer (for brunch, lunch, and dinner), and the one thing I discovered is this: a much-needed bubbly glass of prosecco cuts right through the richness of the egg yolk and the spiciness of the sausage. That's just a little tip from me to you, because I love you. You're welcome :)

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WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

(serves 4)

2 hot Italian sausages, casings removed

1 mild Italian sausage, casing removed

8 eggs (2 eggs per person)

4 potatoes, cut in bite size pieces

1 red bell pepper, cut in bite size pieces

1 small onion, cut into petals

fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley

paprika

garlic powder

salt/pepper

olive oil

cookie sheet/sheet pan

* NOTE:  I like to serve this with grilled bread, that's been rubbed with a garlic clove

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place potatoes, onion, and peppers on large baking sheet.  Drizzle lightly with olive oil and mix with hands until all are coated.  Sprinkle all over with salt and pepper.

Next, drop sausage in little balls all over the sheet pan.  Sprinkle all over with garlic powder and paprika.  Bake for 1 hour.

ready for the oven

Approx 5 minutes before the sausage hash is done, fry your eggs.

out of the oven, ready for the eggs

Finely chop a handful of fresh parsley and sprinkle on top of hash.  Plate, and place fried eggs on top.  Serve with grilled bread, if desired.

Grilled Skirt Steak with Avocado Chimichurri

 

The Fourth of July is upon us, king of the grilling holidays.

As you ease back into the entertaining groove you haven't felt since late 2019, give this a try:  grilled skirt steak with a piquant, vibrant, chimichurri.  It's so easy that it'll leave you time to catch up with those friends you've only seen on zoom and facetime, and toast with your chilled rose' in person to the fabulous summer memories that lie ahead. 

Eight long weeks until Labor Day--enjoy every minute of it! :) 

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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

Enough skirt steak for your guests

2 cups parsley leaves, packed (if you like cilantro, you can use half cilantro/half parsley)

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more if you like spice)

2 medium avocados, chopped

kosher salt/pepper

garlic powder

dried cumin

cuisinart

For Chimichurri:  add the parsley and chopped garlic to the cuisinart and pulse until fine.  Add vinegar, oil, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes--pulse until mixed together.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and chill in refrigerator  (I recommend only making it a few hours before eating)

Approx 1 hour before serving, add in the avocados and stir together gently, careful not to break them up.  Cover and keep in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Grilled skirt steak:

rub lightly with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a JUST A LITTLE  dried cumin (a little cumin goes a long way, trust me.  You don't want it to taste like your moms Tuesday night hard-shell taco meat from 1976...not that there's anything wrong with that...but that's not this lol)

ready for the grill

Grill and let rest, covered, for 10 minutes before serving with chimichurri.

Chicken Corn Chowder

It's June and school is out.  That means one thing…summer!  Nothing says summer like the beach, and nothing says summer at the beach like chowder.

When my kids were little, we would rent a house in the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a week every summer.  On the first day, while the kids were down by the water with their dad and grandmother, I would make a big pot of chicken corn chowder to have for dinner.  They would come up from the beach salty, sandy, sunburned...and hungry.  At dinner we'd eat and laugh and play games, and after dessert they'd fall asleep...HARD...until the sun and the roaring waves from the Atlantic would wake them up the next day.  And we'd do it all over again.

I’m happy to share my recipe with you here.  It’s hearty and satisfying but not too thick, and because of the ingredients, it’s a complete meal in itself.

Summer is the the best 9 weeks of the year. Enjoy every minute of it! :)

windblown, sunburned, showered, and ready for dinner, Summer 2004

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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

** I serve this with biscuits.  Just buy or make your favorite kind

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 small onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

3 tablespoons butter

2 cups chicken broth

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 cups whole milk or cream

1 cup freshly shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup freshly shredded Monterey jack cheese

2 cups of fresh corn cut off the cob (approx 8 ears of corn) - or - 1 16-ounce can corn, drained

1 16-ounce can creamed corn

1 4.5-ounce can chopped green chilis, undrained

2 teaspoon hot sauce

1 large tomato, chopped

salt/pepper

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and brown in large dutch oven, with butter, onion and garlic.  Sprinkle cumin over chicken mixture and brown a few minutes more.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add chicken broth, corn, chilis, and hot sauce--simmer 10 minutes.  Stir.  Add milk and stir.  Add cheese and stir gently over low heat until melted.  Stir in tomato and heat together to mix flavors.  Serve in bowls with salt sprinkled on top (makes 2 quarts)