Category Archives: Recipe

Holiday Prime Rib

February 6, 2017 Jonathan Leave a comment

Sorry for the lateness of this recipe — we celebrated the Christmas Holiday with it, along with stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry congeal, and of course, horseradish.

(Must remember to NOT use the small plates when dishing this up, next time!!!)

5 pounds prime rib roast (see note)
1/4 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
4 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
kosher salt

Place rib roast on a plate and allow to come to room temperature, approximately 4-4.5 hours.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
Combine butter, pepper, garlic, and Italian seasoning in a small bowl. Spread butter mixture evenly over entire roast (top, bottom, and both sides). Season roast generously with kosher salt. It shouldn’t have a salt crust, but it should have enough for flavour. (As a variation, you can slice your garlic cloves into thin slices and, using the sharp point of a knife, insert them randomly over your roast’s top side — then using the butter, pepper, and Italian seasoning (omitting the minced garlic) to coat the roast.) Place roast in a roasting pan and cover with the lid.
Place the covered roasting pan in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Turn the oven off. Leave the roast in the pan, in the oven with the door closed, let the roast sit in the oven for 2 hours. Remove roast from the oven, slice, and serve.

To calculate the roast’s cooking time, multiply the exact weight of the roast by 5, and then round the resulting number to the nearest whole number. Roast the prime rib at 500 degrees F for that precise amount of time (i.e., 6.5 pounds would be 6.5×5=32.5, so you’d roast for 33 minutes). Remember to not open the oven door during the two hour cool down of the oven. In the event you have a convection oven that has a fan to automatically cool down the oven after you turn it off, you’ll either need to disable that function, or unplug your oven so that the cool down occurs naturally, unassisted by the fan.

One further note: Because of the fat content of the roast, and the additional fat provided by the butter coating, it is very important to have proper ventilation in your kitchen. Otherwise, your smoke detectors WILL go off, and you may be visited by your local Fire Department.

Main Course, Recipe

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken with Rice

February 5, 2017 Jonathan Leave a comment

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rice vinegar
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon ginger paste (or 1 teaspoon ground, dried ginger)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup scallions, diced

Place cubed chicken in bottom of the slow cooker.

Whisk together next five ingredients (soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, garlic and ginger paste). Pour over chicken and stir to combine.

Cover and cook on low for four hours.

Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken. Turn slow cooker to high. In another dish (or coffee mug) mix cornstarch with water until smooth with no lumps. Pour the cornstarch slurry into sauce, stirring to combine.

Add the chicken back to the sauce and allow to come back to bubble, which thickens the sauce and coats the chicken.

Serve over white rice and dress with scallions.

Serves 4-6.

Recipe, Soup

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

November 23, 2016 Jonathan Leave a comment

2 sticks unsalted butter
2 medium onions, finely diced
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 pounds broccoli florets
2 quarts reduced fat, low sodium/organic chicken broth (can be made with vegetable stock as well)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups 2% milk
8 ounces shredded reduced fat mild cheddar cheese
8 ounces shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese

Place large soup pot over medium heat. Add butter and stir until melted. Add onions and cook about five minutes until tender but not browned. Add garlic powder and fresh ground pepper and cook one more minute. Add stock and broccoli and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, mix flour and milk well; whisk in to soup. Return to simmer and cook and additional five minutes (this helps cook out the flour taste). Slowly add cheese, whisking to combine and heat through.

Serve with croutons. Serves 12.

Main Course, Recipe, Veggies

Chicken Asparagus Roll-Ups

September 18, 2015 Jonathan Leave a comment

An All-In-One dish, perfect served with fresh baked bread and a mandarin orange spinach salad .

4 six ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lb lightly steamed asparagus
8 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 medium onion, minced
dried spices of your choice (or one of the Mrs. Dash blends)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place chicken breasts between layers of plastic wrap and using a rolling pin or meat mallet, pound until flattened out to about 1/4″ thick. Spread layer of minced onion on inside of chicken breast, then on one end, place 5-6 asparagus spears, and cheese. Roll chicken breast up like a jelly roll, and place in a 9″x13″ baking dish. Repeat with remaining breasts. Sprinkle tops lightly with dried spices.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until juices run clear and chicken is no longer pink.

Serves: 4.

Main Course, Recipe, Seafood/Fish

Creamy, Cheesy Shrimp Florentine Linguine

September 13, 2015 Jonathan Leave a comment

You can use fat-free half and half, and reduced fat Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses. Serve with a green salad and/or garlic bread. – Wannabe Gourmet Jonathan

2 tablespoons olive oil
1.5 pounds fresh shrimp without shells or tails, deveined
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup fresh basil, cut in a chiffonade
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp paprika
16 oz mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 lb cut whole leaf spinach
2 cups half and half
1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
cooked pasta water
1 lb linguine pasta

Heat a large skillet until hot – add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and immediately add garlic and shrimp, cook on one side for about 1 minute until pink on one side, on medium-high heat. Flip the shrimp to the other side, sprinkle the top of cooked side of shrimp with basil, and paprika, cook for another 1-2 minutes, occasionally stirring, until shrimp is pink on both sides. Remove the shrimp from skillet. If shrimp is a little undercooked – it’s fine because you will continue cooking it in the sauce.

To the same skillet add sliced mushrooms. Add more olive oil if necessary. Cook on high heat for about 2 minutes, occasionally stirring, until mushrooms become soft and release juices. Salt midway through cooking. To the skillet with mushrooms, add cooked shrimp. Immediately add spinach, half and half and all of the cheese – bring to boil, then reduce to simmer, and cook, constantly stirring, until all cheese melts. Cover with lid and remove from heat.

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve some of pasta water. Drain and rinse pasta with cold water. Add pasta to the skillet with shrimp and mushrooms and cream sauce. Stir well, season with more salt and add more crushed red pepper flakes and basil, if desired.
If the cream sauce is too thick and you want it creamier – add some pasta water in small amounts until you reach desired consistency.

Fruit, Main Course, Recipe

Cranberry Citrus Fig Sauce for Pork and Chicken

September 12, 2015 Jonathan Leave a comment

Finally! A return to cooking and new recipes! – Jonathan (The Wannabe Gourmet)

1 1/2 cups of dried cranberries (divided)
2 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
4 slices naval orange (including rind)
4 slices lemon (deseeded but including rind)
4 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
14 fresh figs, quartered and pulp scooped from outer rind

Place 1 cup dried cranberries in a saucepot. Cover with 2 cups water, adding cinnamon sticks. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Add sugars, citrus slices, orange juice and vanilla extract. Return to boil, reduce to simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. This will cause the pulp from the orange and lemon to cook away from rind. Remove rinds and cinnamon stick. Allow to cool slightly, then process until almost smooth in a food processor fitted with a chopping blade.

Return to saucepot, add cardamom and ground cinnamon. Add fig pulp and remaining 1/2 cup of dried cranberries. Return to boil, and reduce to simmer and stir occasionally for 5-10 minutes until lightly thickened and dried cranberries have plumped. The figs will have dissolved into the sauce, and the seeds will be floating on the surface. Stir to combine completely and allow to cool slightly (sauce will continue to thicken as it cools).

Use on pork chops, ham steaks, or even grilled chicken. Use leftover sauce within 2 days, or freeze for up to a month.

The Self-Trained Amateur Chef!