Grazin' Angus Acres Ribs

Sunday we went to the Farmer's Market at Carroll Park. I grabbed two ears of what was probably the best corn I have ever eaten and the man, not surprisingly, was quickly seduced by the table for Angus Acres. What can I say, my man recognizes a good side of meat (me). The guy working there selected two packages of ribs after sizing us up and told us about how a few weeks ago they got a call for about 350 servings of their meat. They thought they couldn't handle an order that size and at first said no. After crunching the numbers they decided they could do it.... so now we got to eat the same meat served (exclusively) at Chelsea Clinton's wedding, cool huh?

We did a slooooooww bake on this guy. First we marinated the meat (in a deep metal pan) in some red wine (save a good amount to go with the meal!), brown sugar, olive oil, salt and pepper for at least an hour. Flip it after 30 minutes to make sure both sides get well soaked (marinade should reach the halfway mark of the meat to make this process even). Preheat the oven to 250 degrees for some slllooow, hot lovin'. Sear the meat on top of the stove in a frying pan  for just a few minutes on each side to lock in the moisture. Pour the marinade in a bowl before you return the seared meat to the pan. Cook in the oven for as long as the meat decides. Keep brushing on marinade to maintain the moisture. We cooked ours for about 3 hours..

It was fun watching the man revert back to his primitive state. His plate when done is the last picture... scary. He said it rivaled Peter Luger's and the best meat he had in Brazil - not bad.

ENJOY!

Banana Bread

So I froze two bananas the other day because Dan and I were going home for a week. I figured I could make banana bread with it when we came back. This was my first time making it and to be honest I wasn't sure if I even liked banana bread-I just knew Dan did. So I used my mom's recipe and... it was delicious! I was nervous when I was scooping out the mushy banana (really, I almost yacked it seemed so gross) but I have been scarfing it down all weekend. This stuff is delicious.

Ingredients
-1/2 cup of butter (softened at room temp)
-1/2 cup of honey
-2 eggs
-2 cups of flour
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/4 tsp salt
-2 or 3 large ripe bananas
-1 cup of chopped walnuts

Cream the butter and add honey and beaten eggs. Add dry ingredients alternately with mashed bananas to the butter mixture. Add nuts.

Bake 60 minutes at 350 degrees in a loaf pan that has been sprayed with pam or buttered. (if using small loaf pans like I did you might cook it for less time) Check for doneness with a toothpick. Enjoy!

Capellini with Prosciutto and Nectarines

Considering it has been sooooo long since I really cooked something new I decided to be pretty adventurous on this one. I also knew I wanted something that didn't involve much cooking because it was HOT last night. This was really yummy, especially on a summer night because of the nectarine slices in it.


Ingredients (for 2 with leftovers)
-1/2 box capellini (or other) pasta
-1/8 pound of prosciutto
-1 nectarine (or 2)
-1 tomato (or 2)
-any greens, like spinach or basil
-fresh Parmesan and feta cheese
-extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
-1 clove of garlic

Get water boiling for your capellini pasta. The actual pasta cooks really fast because it is so thin. So you can prepare everything before you even put the pasta in the water.

While the water heats up, chop up 1 or 2 nectarines, 1 or 2 tomatoes, and 1 garlic clove. Wrap the prosciutto slices around a few of the nectarines (not all!). I only wrapped 6 nectarine slices. The rest of the prosciutto will be saved for sandwiches.

Once the water starts boiling cook the pasta, it only takes about 2 minutes. Drain the pasta and put the pasta, some Parmesan cheese, the chopped tomato, nectarine (not the slices with prosciutto), garlic, greens, and some EVOO in a saute pan. Mix together and let it warm over the stove. Plate this and sprinkle some more Parmesan cheese and crumble some feta on top. Place prosciutto wrapped nectarine slices on top and voila! Enjoy.

and it makes fiance happy too!

Salmon Loaf

This is from Betty Crocker's Cookbook

It cooks for two, or you can double it and make a full loaf (don't need to add salt). Very healthy.

1 can of (15 1/2 ounces each) salmon drained and flaked (reserve liquid)

1 egg

milk

1 1/2 cups coarse cracker crumbs

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp chopped onion

dash of pepper

Mix salmon and egg. Add enough milk to reserve salmon liquid to measure 3/4 cup. Stir liquid mixture and remaining ingredients into salmon mixture. Spoon lightly into greased loaf pan (use greased parchment paper or foil for easy cleanup). 9x5x3 inches. If following the half recipe, this will only fill half the pan-shape as necessary. Bake uncovered in 350 degree oven until done, about 45 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedges if desired.

Wini's Lemon Tea Bread

So good as finger food at a party or with tea!



-Juice 1 lemon and combine with 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl. Set aside until bread finishes baking.

-Grate the rind (zest) of 1 lemon and combine with ½ cup of shredded coconut in a small bowl. Set aside.

-Sift together 1 ½ cups of flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp salt in a bowl. Set aside.

In a bowl pour a ½ cup of milk to add alternately with dry ingredients. Set aside.

Combine 6 tbsp butter with 1 cup of sugar and 2 eggs in a large bowl.

After the butter, 1 cup of sugar and two eggs are well creamed with electric mixers, put the electric mixer away. Alternately add, by folding motions, the flour mixture and the ½ cup of milk. Then fold in coconut/lemon rind mixture. Bake 350 degrees in a greased loaf pan for about 55 minutes. If the top browns before loaf tests done (a clean toothpick), place foil on top. Top with lemon juice/sugar mix while loaf still is hot from the oven.

Enjoy!

Camping 3: Pasta with Pesto and Honey Glazed Carrots

This was a quick one. We brought our own pesto from home (see my archived recipe) and cooked up some pasta. Then we chopped up some fresh carrots (Again from Foggy Meadow Farms) and poured in some honey since we didn't have any brown sugar. It was delicious and healthy...and light! This is especially good if you eat at the Wheel Inn that morning...oof!

Camping 2: Pork Loin and Green Beans

Buy pork loin. Put over fire. Slather in BBQ sauce. Cook through. Steam fresh green beans from uncle's farm. Foggy Meadow Farms in Benson, Vermont.

eat.

Camping 1 - Italian Sausage with Peppers and Onions

When most people think of camping they imagine hotdogs and Kraft macaroni and cheese. Not us.

This is an easy meal that you can do over the fire or whatever type of grill apparatus you have.

We cooked up some good Italian sausage (I like them a little spicy) over the fire. While that was going we chopped up some fresh peppers and onions and steamed them (kept them covered) with a little butter and olive oil... or whatever you have. That's the beauty of camping. You can make room over your grill for two pans, or, if you have several spots to cook like us, you can have two going at once. Toast some hot dog buns and voila!

It's so much better than your standard hot dog...it makes your camping just a little more exquisite. And a little red wine doesn't hurt...