David's Quick & Easy: Week Day Ideas

Chicken Stuffed with Golden Onions and Fontina

A semi-firm cheese that's nonetheless quite creamy, fontina melts into pure heaven. Combined with caramelized onions, fontina becomes a nutty, gooey, irresistible filling for chicken breasts.

Prep Time:	35 minutes
Ready in:	35 minutes
Yield:	4 servings
Ease of Prep:	Moderate

Recipe Ingredients
	4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil , divided
	1 1/2 cups thinly sliced red onion
	2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary , divided
	1/8 teaspoon salt
	Freshly ground pepper to taste
	2/3 cup shredded fontina cheese , preferably aged
	4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound), trimmed of fat
	1/2 cup white wine
	1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
	4 teaspoons all-purpose flour

Recipe Directions

1.     Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and 1 teaspoon rosemary; cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is golden brown, 6 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool; stir in fontina.

2.     Meanwhile, cut a horizontal slit along the thin, long edge of each chicken breast half, nearly through to the opposite side. Stuff each breast with 1/4 cup of the onion-cheese mixture.

3.     Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

4.     Add wine and the remaining 1 teaspoon rosemary to the pan. Cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Whisk broth and flour in a bowl until smooth; add to the pan, reduce heat to low and whisk until the sauce thickens, about 1 minute. Return the chicken to the pan and coat with the sauce. Cook, covered, until the chicken is just cooked through, 2 to 4 minutes. Serve the chicken topped with the sauce.

Whole hogs

Starting next week, Baron's will be joining the whole animal movement.

We are excited to be bringing in a whole hog from Becker Lane Organic Farm. We have worked with Becker Lane in the past and are very excited to have this opportunity to go whole hog. For the first time ever, we will be able to offer skin-on, bone-in pork shoulders, fresh ham, skin-on belly, hocks and shanks. If we have time, we're even gonna make porchetta.

Have you ever wanted skin-on pork chops? Fresh pork bones for stock? Fat back to render or make lardo? Mmmmm! All this will be available. All this is organic, pasture-raised pork.

Starting Thursday of next week, we will make this fabulous pork available in the regular counter. Going forward, we plan to offer this pork in a C.S.A. style box (either a 5 or 10 pound box with a mix of cuts chosen by us) on a reservations-only basis. But for the first few deliveries, we will stock the product in the counter.

Expect prices to be somewhere in the $12-$18 per pound range for loin chops, $8-$14 per pound range for shoulder and leg.  Prices will be more definitive as we conduct yield tests after delivery next week, and hopefully they will be on the lower end of the scale.

Look for this program to expand to beef in the spring as we have already spoken to Bill Niman about bringing in beef from his ranch in Bolinas.

Grandma's Potato Latkes

My Grandmother of course made the greatest potato latkes known to mankind.  I'm sure your grandmother did too.  But here's my grandma's recipe. 

This should be a great side dish to meat, foul or fish.

INGREDIENTS

5 lbs Russet potatoes peeled

1 large yellow onion

2 eggs

Matzo meal (you can substitute flour) 

Salt to taste

White pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Grate the potatoes and the onion on the coarse side of a box grater.  Not the big hole side but the smaller hole side.  

2. Let the batter sit and spoon off excess liquid that rises to the surface.  Grandma used a spoon, my cousin Herb uses a turkey baster to remove the excess liquid.  I have modernized the process by using a fine mesh strainer to remove the excess liquid.

3. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

4. Remember, potatoes can absorb a lot of salt so be generous.

5. Add matzo meal in small amounts until you can taste it slightly. (This is really the art of the dish).  It's usually about a half a cup. (You can also just add 1/2 cup all purpose flour and not worry about it.) 

6. Add the eggs and mix well.

7. Fry in hot oil until golden brown and crispy.

SUGGESTION:

Serve with apple sauce or my favorite sour cream. 

David's Quick & Easy Recipe: Puttanesca Sauce

Recipe of the week

 Puttanesca Sauce

Our quick and easy recipes answer the perpetual question; "What's for dinner Mom".  My Quick & Easy series offer recipes to make dinner-time less stressful.

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Anchovy Paste or chopped anchovies

Puttanesca sauce can be served over chicken,
fish, beef or pork

1 1/2 Tbsp Minced Garlic

2 tsp Hot pepper flakes

20 chopped olives (Kalamata is my favorite)

2 Cups Tomato Sauce (your favorite recipe or jarred variety)

INSTRUCTIONS
Heat a saute pan and add the oil.

Add the minced garlic and stir.

Add the anchovy paste and melt into the garlic and oil.  

Add the tomato sauce and simmer for a few minutes.  

Makes both a great spaghetti sauce or sauce for Chicken, Fish, Beef and Pork too!

An essential and easy recipe to add to your repertoire!

http://www.baronsmeats.com/

Dry-Aged Beef for the Holidays

Why is it so delicious? The process and benefits



Dry-Aged Beef at Baron's Meats & Poutry in Alameda CA

They have been dry-aged, that is to say stored in a temperature and humidity controlled environment so as to enhance flavor through the natural process of proteolysis accompanied by controlled dehydration. The entire cut loses up to 20 percent of its original moisture during the aging process (which concentrates flavor), and the darkened protective crust is trimmed from any customer portion.

Dry-aging produces an intensely flavored and tender cut of meat; the flavor is an heirloom experience as it cannot be replicated by any modern method. The taste has been described as “buttery” or “a more brown-roasted beefy flavor” than a similar wet-aged cut.

Due to the loss of water weight and the additional loss of product to the formation of the protective crust, dry-aged beef is expensive to produce. It is becoming an increasingly rare product. We purchase our dry-aged beef from Niman Ranch: experts in the dry-aging process.

More information on dry-aging:

Today butchers no longer hang sides of beef in their coolers—the industry has changed. Almost all meat is now reduced in the slaughterhouse to “primal cuts” that are immediately vacuum packed. The meat, sealed in its own juices, is easily stored in boxes, which saves on water-weight-loss and in storage space capacity.

All meat is aged; soon after slaughter natural enzymes in muscles begin to break down proteins in the muscle fibers. This process (proteolysis) occurs most rapidly in the first 3 to 7 days and tenderizes the meat. Vacuum packed meat undergoes proteolysis in the package, during storage and shipping. This process is called wet-aging.

However, certain well-marbled cuts of beef lend themselves to the traditional dry-aging process. Direct from the slaughterhouse, cuts are transferred to a humidity-controlled room at a temperature of 34-38 degrees Fahrenheit with plenty of air circulation. Closely monitored so as to prevent premature drying, freezing, or microbial growth, the meat ages over a 3-6 week period. During this time 20 percent of the original weight of the meat will evaporate, the color of the meat will change, and a protective crust will develop around the center, aged portion.

As in wet-aging, the initial tenderization process occurs at the start of dry-aging. However, the gradual water loss concentrates flavor in the meat and concentrates the natural tenderizing enzymes within the tissue at the same time. Thus a dry-aged cut is not only more flavorful, but also more tender.

Five Spice Pork with Roast Potatoes

FOR THE PORK ROAST

1.One(1)  2lb. pork loin roast

2.Season with the following:

   a. Salt

Roasted Pork & Potatoes

   b. Pepper 

   c. Chinese 5 Spice pwdr

   d. Herbs de Provence 

 ROASTED POTATOES

1. Red Potatoes cut in1/2 or 1/4's if large  

2. Olive Oil

3. Salt & Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees

2. Season the pork with the herbs and spices 

3. Place potatoes in a baking dish 

4. Toss with oil and S&P 

5. Place the pork roast on top 



6. Bake for 45 minutes or 'til an instant read thermometer reads 155F
7. Remove pork to a plate let rest UNCOVERED 
8. Continue cooking the potatoes for another 15 minutes or until tender. 

SERVE WITH

1. Warm apple sauce flavored with five spice powder

2. Seasonal greens like Chard, Kale or Brocolli. 

IF...

If you do not have the five spice mentioned above, use any sweet spice like tarragon or even cinnamon or any dry herb. Or use a mustard mixed with whatever herb or spice you use. 

My family had this for dinner this week, and it took about an hour from start to finish.

Spaghetti & Meatballs with Sweet Italian Sausage

Spaghetti & Meatballs w/ Sweet Italian Sausage 

INGREDIENTS

2 jars your favorite tomato sauce (1 is enough 2 will give plenty of leftovers)

4 Baron's Sweet Italian Sausage

4 Baron's Meatballs

1 Lb. your favorite pasta

1 Baguette . Good quality Parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Put on a pot of water to boil.

Pour the contents of the sauce into a saucepot and heat.

2. Add the sausage and meatballs.

3. Bring to a boil reduce to a simmer and simmer 20 minutes.

4. Cook pasta to desired tenderness.

5. Serve with freshly grated cheese and a Feel Good baguette.

This is a simple way to make a great dinner. You can easily spend hours making your own sauce chopping, sweating, simmering, stirring, stirring, stirring, but If you use great sausage and meatballs and an excellent quality cheese, this will prove to be a family favorite.