Rice and Couscous Pilaf

Here's a tasty side dish that is kind of a take on rice pilaf. I used my rice cooker to make rice as usual, but added a quarter cup Israeli couscous. Once cooked I mixed in some sauteed yellow onion, garlic and finished with green onion and cherry tomato's. This is so good you could just eat this as the main course.

Ingredients:

Israeli Couscous

2 1/4 cups water

1 cup rice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 Israeli couscous

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 medium diced yellow onion

2 minced garlic cloves

1 bunch sliced green onions

1 cup sliced cherry tomato's

Chopped Italian parsley for garnish

Preparation:

Add 2-1/4 cups water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 cup rice and 1/4 cup couscous to a medium sauce pan or rice cooker. If using a rice cooker, press start and the rice and couscous pilaf will be done in about 20 minutes. If using an saute pan, bring to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer and cook until the water has been absorbed. Once the water has been absorbed, turn off the heat and let set 5 minutes.

Heat a 12" saute pan to medium. Add the olive oil and yellow onion and cook 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook just 1 minute. Add the rice and couscous pilaf to the saute pan and well. Add the cherry tomato's and green onions and mix well. Check for proper seasoning and you're done.

To serve, place the couscous and rice pilaf on a serving plate and garnish with sliced green onions and chopped Italian parsley.

Braised Short Rib and Callezione Pasta

I wanted to do something a little different with a pack of short ribs I'd been saving in the freezer. Instead of braising and serving over mashed potato's or polenta, I decided to go with braised shredded short rib and callezione pasta. This turned out as I suspected, deliciously rich and beefy and goes really well a big red wine such as a Super Tuscan or Cabernet.

Ingredients:

1 pack 4 short ribs
1/2 pound Barilla Callezione pasta
12 ounces beef broth
1/2 yellow onion
1 carrot
4 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Take a 4 quart square sided saute pan and add the olive oil. Once heated add the short ribs and brown on all sides. Once browned add the beef broth, chopped yellow onion, chopped carrot and chopped garlic. Cover the saute pan and place into the oven for 2 hours turning the short ribs every half hour.

When the short ribs are done, remove from the saute pan to a plate and let cool. When cool, remove the meat from the bone and shred into small pieces. Strain the liquid from the saute pan and reserve.

Take a large stock pot and fill with water. Add 1 tablespoon salt and bring to boil. Cook the callezione pasta according to directions, which is 12 - 14 minutes to al dente, which is firm to the bite. Drain the pasta.

Take a 12" saute pan and heat to medium high. Add the pasta and short rib and toss until heated. Add one cup reserved beef broth and toss. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter, toss and you're done.

To serve, place a portion of braised short rib and callezione pasta on a plate. Garnish with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and chopped Italian parsley.

Apple Wood Smoked Chicken

As we wind down the warm weather this year, I thought I'd cook one last smoked roasted chicken. Though I don't use a pellet smoker like a Tagger, you can still get a nice pink smoke ring on the chicken using your gas grill. I use apple wood chips that I soak in water and wrap in aluminum foil with a few knife slits and set just over the burner. This will smoke for an hour or so and sometimes I might go for a second pouch of chips if I'm going really low and slow.

Ingredients:

1 organic chicken

Seasoning of choice

Aluminum foil

Apple wood chips

Preparation:

Rinse the chicken in cold water and dry. Lay the chicken breast side down and using your poultry shearers cut out the back. Next, butterfly the chicken and season with salt & pepper and some BBQ rub if you like.

Prepare the wood chips by soaking in water for a few minutes and then wrap in a tin foil in a tube shape so it will lay across the burner.

Heat the grill to 300 degrees using the rear burner only, leaving the front two burners off. Place the wood chips over the back burner and place the chicken breast side up in the front of the grill. Cook the chicken over indirect heat for 90 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before carving and enjoy.      

French Vinnaigrette Beans

Here's a really quick and easy green beans recipe that will amaze you. This is a new favorite and we'll be having this again soon I'm sure.

Ingredients:

1 pound French green beans

2 tablespoons Brianna's Vinaigrette salad dressing

Salt & pepper

Preparation:

Place the green beans in a steamer and cook 5 - 7 minutes until done. Place in a bowl and add the Briana's salad dressing, a grind of salt and pepper and toss.

To serve, place the green beans on a serving plate and garnish with chopped Italian parsley.

Patty Melt

What I like about this patty melt is the sliced sour dough bread rubbed with raw garlic and drizzled with olive oil. I think of this is kind of like an Italian hamburger. Secondly, I'm using organic grass fed ground beef from Fred Meyer. The organic grass fed ground beef is just $1.00 more per pound and it does have really great flavor and perhaps a little better for you too, but either way this burger rocks!

Ingredients:
Grass fed lean ground beef
Sliced Munster cheese
Lettuce
Tomato
Red Onion
Olive oil or Mayo if preferred
1 Garlic clove

Preparation:

Prepare the ground beef into 1/3 pound rectangle patties roughly the same size as your bread. Heat your grill to medium high heat and cook the burgers about 3 minutes per side. In the last minute add the cheese.

Toast the sliced sour dough bread to golden brown. Take the raw garlic and rub on the inside of the bottom and top pieces of bread. Brush some olive oil on the bread where you rubbed the garlic. On the bottom piece of bread, place some lettuce, sliced tomato and sliced red onion. Add the patty and finish by adding the top piece of sour dough bread. Cut in have and serve.     

Swiss Chard

Sometimes you come across something in your grocery store that looks so amazing you have to get it. That's what happened when I saw this beautiful Swiss Card. This was a huge bunch of organic red Swiss Chard from Safeway. Not only does this just look really good, but Swiss Card is one of the healthiest vegetables that ranks with the likes of beets, spinach and quinoa. I was curious why this is called Swiss Chard and it turns out that the vegetable is not from Switzerland at all, but was discovered by a Swiss botanist by the name of Karl Koch. I simply prepared the Swiss Chard in a sauté pan with some olive oil, crushed garlic and salt and pepper.
 

Ingredients:

1 bunch organic Swiss Chard

1 tablespoon crushed garlic

Salt and pepper
 

Preparation:

Rinse the Swiss Chard in cold water. Trim the ends of the stalks and cut into 1 inch ribbons.

Heat a 12" sauté pan to medium. Add the olive oil and chopped Swiss Chard. The Swiss Chard will start out as a big pile and cook down similar to spinach. Once the Swiss Chard has cooked down, remove to a strainer and let any excess moister run off.
 

Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the sauté pan and heat to medium low. Add the garlic and cook one minute. You want to gently soften the garlic, so don't over cook or burn the garlic. Add the Swiss Chard back to the pan and toss with the garlic and you're ready to serve.