Homemade Arrabbiata Sauce w/Penne

Arrabbiata Sauce is an Italian angry tomato sauce. I say angry because you use a lot of peppers instead of focusing on tomatoes. You usually serve with pasta...which is what I did here.

Ingredients:
2 Roma Tomatoes
2 Greenhouse Tomatoes
4 small Jalapeno Peppers
2 Caribe Peppers
3 Poblano Peppers
2 Anaheim Peppers
1/2 cup Vegetable Broth
1 can Tomato Paste

Alright, I began by slicing and dicing up my Tomatoes. I put these in my deep saucepan first and set the heat to MEDIUM.

I then diced the Jalapeno's up and tossed them in.

Then the same with the Caribe's.

The Poblano's.

Finally the Anaheim's.

Now I added in the Vegetable Broth and stirred everything around. I then added in the Tomato Paste. Do your best to stir this in. It won't happen 100% but the cooking process will take care of that. Cover.

About 10 minutes later it should look like this. I turned off the heat now.

Let sit for about 5 minutes. Then use a food processor or blender to puree. I used a blender. I cooked up some Penne Pasta as well for it to go with. As I created this dish for my lunch while I'm at work during the week, I put in a small tupperware with a sprinkle of Asiago Cheese on top. Enjoy..I know I will.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Today I was feeling a little under the weather and thought how I would feel better. Then I remembered the cure all for all ailments, Chicken Noodle Soup. I had some Chicken in the fridge that I had to use for something soon, so I threw it in the freezer and went to the store. I needed more materials. This recipe is the delicious result.

Ingredients:
3 Chicken Breasts, diced
1 bag Whole Wheat Egg Noodle Pasta
4 Carrots, diced
1 White Onion, finely diced
4 Celery stalks, halved and sliced
1/2 stick Butter
Caesar Salad Dressing
Italian Herb Mix
Ground Black Pepper
32 oz Vegetable Broth
32 oz Chicken Broth
1 cup Water (optional)

So, I began at the store for this recipe. I knew I wanted to make Chicken Noodle Soup and all I had for it was the Chicken and Carrots. So I picked up some White Onions, Celery, and the 2 Broths.

I put the Chicken in the freezer first because when it's partially frozen it is a lot easier to cut into small pieces.

I then added some Caesar Salad Dressing to it and set it aside since it comes into play much later on.

Now dice up your Carrots, White Onion, and Celery stalks.

Alright, put a stockpot on the stove. Throw or lightly toss your Butter in there.

Once the Butter is mostly melted, throw in your diced White Onion, Celery stalks, and Carrots. Stir and add a few pinches of an Italian Herb Mix with a single pinch of Ground Black Pepper.

Let cook for about 6 minutes or until the Carrots are somewhat softened and Onions have caramelized.

Then you find the 2 Broths.

Pour them in. Stir.

Add Noodles.

Stir and then put a saucepan on a different burner with heat on medium. Put the Chicken and Dressing on in.

Make sure to keep stirring them around in the pan so they do not burn to it at all.

Now add in 1 cup of Water to the stockpot if you think the liquid level is low. I did and it turned out amazing.

Alright, once the Chicken is done cooking you strain out the excess Dressing and put the Chicken into the stockpot. Stir it in well.

Once the Carrots are soft enough it is done. For the entire recipe, I want to say this took me like 30 to 45 minutes total. I am sure if I let it cook longer it would taste a bit different, however as is it is a very rich soup. Enjoy!

Center Cut Pork Chops w/Tomato based Sauce

Today before I went out for my NFL team's game, I decided that Pork Chops in the afternoon was a great idea! After creating that sauce the other day for my Short Ribs, I thought that a sauce would be a great idea.

Ingredients:

For the Chops
2 Center Cut Pork Chops
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Ancho Chili Powder
Aleppo Chili Powder
Garlic Salt
Ground Black Pepper
0.5 stick Butter

For the Sauce
2 Anaheim Peppers
2 Tomatoes
3 Carrots
4 Scallions
2 White Onions
Ancho Chili Powder
Aleppo Pepper Powder
Turmeric Powder
Sweet Paprika
2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon Red Wine
1 cup Vegetable Broth
0.5 cup Red Wine Vinegar
0.5 cup Lime Juice
Fresh Oregano

Alright, so this recipe is very split up between the sauce and the Pork Chops themselves.

The sauce was created by getting the ingredients together first.

I then diced up the Anaheim Peppers, Scallions, and Carrots. I put these in the saucepan along with the Cabernet Sauvignon and Vegetable Broth. I also added the Lime Juice and Red Wine Vinegar at this point.

I then turned the heat to HIGH-MEDIUM and diced up the White Onions and Tomatoes and added them in, along with a sprinkling of fresh Oregano.

I then turned to the Pork Chops. I had the spice mix I used on the Short Ribs the other day pre-prepared so I spooned it out and added it to the Chops. In case you don't want to go look it up, it's roughly 1 spoonful of each ingredient with 2 spoonfuls of the Ancho Powder.

Using a large saucepan, I put in the Butter and let it mostly melt. Once it was at that point, I added in the Pork Chops spice side down. One spoonful of the spice mix went on top.

After about 2 minutes, I flipped the Pork Chops. They aren't that thick so they cook quite quickly.

About 2 minutes after that, the sauce should be almost done. I took everything but the liquid out and put it into a blender. I then pureed the mix for 1 minute. Then poured back into the liquid from before and heated to boiling. Shut it off at that point and stir together.

Your Pork Chops should be done about the time you turn off that Blender. Take them off and put them on a plate to serve. Add the sauce once you are done. Enjoy.

Beef Short Ribs in Sauce

A couple months ago I went out to Winslow's Wine Cafe here in Fort Worth, TX. If you are local and have not gone, you should seriously make a point of it to go there. It is not just wine, but has an amazing menu of items that I cannot get enough of. That place is also the inspiration for this recipe as I had a Buffalo Short Ribs dish off of their menu. It was delicious!

Ingredients:

For the Sauce:
2 White Onions, diced
2.5 cups Cabernet Sauvignon
0.25 cup Lime Juice
1 cup Vegetable Broth
Ancho Chili Powder
1 small can Tomato Sauce

For the Short Ribs:
1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
0.5 cup Vegetable Broth
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Ancho Chili Powder
Aleppo Chili Powder
Garlic Salt
Ground Black Pepper
0.5 cup Olive Oil

Alright, we're going to split this recipe up between making the sauce and cooking the short ribs themselves so as to avoid confusion.

The Sauce

I began this by dicing up my 2 White Onions by hand.

I then put a large saucepan on the stovetop and turned the heat to medium. In went the Cabernet Sauvignon and Lime Juice. I stirred that together and added in the Vegetable Broth.

After that, I added in the small can of Tomato Sauce I had.

I stirred that together and once it began to boil, I added in the diced White Onions.

Mix together so all of the Onions get covered in the mixture.

Leave the heat on medium. I chose to cover it, however I don't think you really need to do that. About 10 minutes later, this is what it looks like:

Looks tasty to me. I know you're wondering where the Ancho Chili Powder is...well I added it about 15 minutes into it cooking. I did this so it did not overpower the other flavors and instead complemented them.

Now I let it cook for about 30 minutes. Might have been closer to 45, so just do what feels right. I then turned the heat off and let it cool for 5 minutes. I spooned out the onions with a slotted spoon and put them in a blender to puree the Onions. I then poured the puree back into the pan and let it cook on medium low for 10 minutes. Then it's done. Feel free to taste!

Beef Short Ribs

Alright, the focal point of our meal. I have never cooked Short Ribs before, so I was somewhat hesitant about cooking these. The only real thing I had to go on was my experience with Baby Back Ribs and looking at a recipe online. I sort of followed it but I would say 90% of this recipe is all me.

I began by mixing my spice mix together. I have no perfect amounts listed as I just poured them out of their containers or bags. Everything was about even with a little more emphasis on Garlic Salt and Fennel Powder. I knew the sauce would almost overpower this mix, so I included that Ancho Chili Powder here as well. I used about a 1/2 cup of spice mix all together.

After mixing it together in a mixing bowl, I poured it into a saucepan that already had a 1/2 cup of Olive Oil. I used a spoon I had to mix the oil and spices together.

I then put the Short Ribs in meat side down and bone side up. I did this because I wanted that side to get a good cooking to start off with. I also added in 0.5 cups of Cabernet Sauvignon. Save the rest for later on.

About 10 minutes later I flipped them over to bone side down.

I let them cook this way for about 15 minutes.

More flipping them over! See how the thin layer of meat/fat/connective tissue there started to pull away, that is what I was going for.

Now I let them cook for awhile, noticing that the mixture was drying up...

So I added the rest of the Cabernet Sauvignon.

Alright, every about 5 minutes I turned them onto their sides to get a good even cook all over.

After doing that twice, I turned to the sauce. The sauce should be pureed and back in the pan cooking by now. I put the Short Ribs in there and coated with sauce.

I then flipped them and let them cook for 3 minutes.

Turn off the heat and pluck those delicious Short Ribs out and onto a plate to serve. I added a good serving of the sauce with because I think it is the way to serve them. Also, chopped up a Scallion for garnishing purposes. Enjoy.