Alabama Fire Crackers

 

Tis the season for guests. You just never know when your friends are coming by. So it's important to have some extraordinary snacks to pass around. And extraordinary works best when you create the snack.

Alabama Fire Crackers are absolutely over the top. Originally made with Saltine or Ritz crackers, the recipe is actually better when made with oyster crackers. The oyster crackers are smaller....easier to eat....and encourages your guests to grovel for them by the handful. 

INGREDIENTS

1-1/2 cups canola oil

2, 1-ounce packets dry ranch dressing

3 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

16-ounces  oyster crackers

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a zip lock bag. Close and shake until combined.
2. Add oyster crackers to bag. Close bag and gently turn until all crackers are coated. Let bag sit at room temperature overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 250º. Arrange crackers a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. 
4. Enjoy with your friends. But keep them away from Santa. Residents of the North Pole are extremely sensitive to spicy food....especially Alabama Fire Crackers!

Ann Seranne's Bone-in Prime Rib Roast

 

Ann Seranne was born in Ontario in 1913. She moved to the United States in 1936.  She became famous for two things: dogs and food. She was a very serious breeder of Yorkshire terrier show dogs. And she was a serious lover of all things having to do with food. She earned her living as a food consultant and eventually became the editor of Gourmet Magazine.

But she is little remembered these days, for she was a one-hit wonder in the vein of Billy Ray Cyrus and his song "Achy Breaky Heart". But, oh, what a hit she had. She single-handedly created the greatest recipe for medium-rare prime rib. Published in the New York Times in 1966, it was revolutionary. It was beyond simple. And absolutely foolproof.

Her recipe called for blasting the bone-in roast at 500º for a brief period and then turning off the oven...leaving the beef undisturbed for 2 hours. Unbelievably perfect medium-rare, every single time. Plus you can carve the roast the minute you take it out of the oven because it has already been resting for 2 hours.

For the recipe to work, your prime rib roast must be bone-in. You can cook it with the bones intact or do what I do... I have the butcher cut the bones and then tie them back to the roast. That way, I can just make a couple of snips of the butcher's twine and carve the roast up....reserving the ribs for a later snack that only I will get to enjoy.

Ingredients

One, 2 to 4 rib, beef prime rib roast, weighing 4 to 12 pounds

Kosher salt

Fresh Ground Pepper

Directions

1. The day before you are going to cook the roast, unwrap it and set it on a wire rack inside a cookie sheet. Salt the entire roast generously with Kosher salt. Place roast, uncovered, back in the refrigerator and let it rest overnight.
2. Remove the roast from the refrigerator 4 hours before cooking and let it come up to room temperature.
3. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
4. Place the roast in an open, shallow roasting pan, fat side up (bone-side down). You don't need a roasting rack as the bones will serve that purpose.  Season generously all over with salt and pepper.
5. Put the roast in the preheated oven (on the second lowest rack) and roast according to the roasting chart below, timing the minutes exactly  When cooking time is finished, turn off the oven. Do not open the door at any time. Allow the roast to remain in the oven for two hours. The roast will have a crunchy brown outside and an internal heat suitable for serving as long as 4 hours after removing from the oven. Makes about 2 servings per rib.

A.   2 rib roast (4 to 5 pounds)...32 minutes at 500º, then rest 2 hours, door shut

B.   3 rib roast (8 to 9 pounds)...47 minutes at 500º, then rest 2 hours, door shut

C.   4 rib roast (11 to 12 pounds)...62 minutes at 500º, then rest 2 hours, door shut

{Formula = 15 minutes per rib + 2 minutes to the total} 

Wine Pairing: Barolo

Thanksgiving: Make-Ahead Adult Cranberry Sauce

 If you're a fan of adult beverages, you will be a fan of this adult cranberry sauce. This recipe packs a bit of a punch, for we are not boiling out the alcohol. We are leaving all of the alcohol in the mix for your eating and imbibing enjoyment. So make sure this gets placed only at the adult table. The kids can get their sauce straight from the can. This can be made and refrigerated up to 5 days in advance.

INGREDIENTS

1, 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup vodka

3 tablespoons Grand Marnier

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium saucepan over moderate heat, combine cranberries, water and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring often to dissolve sugar. Then reduce heat to moderately low and simmer, stirring often, until thickened and reduced to approximately 3 cups (about 15 minutes).
2. Transfer to a medium bowl and cool, stirring often, until tepid (about 30 minutes). Stir in vodka and Grand Marnier. Transfer to a serving bowl, cover and and refrigerate until chilled and set (at least 2 hours). Serve chilled or at room temperature. 

Thanksgiving: Make-Ahead Garlic Mashed Potatoes

 

 

The frenetic pace and challenge of getting turkey and side dishes to be served together at precisely 6:00pm on Thanksgiving day is exhausting. So over the years, I've been working on "make-ahead" recipes that makes serving the meal a whole lot easier. Make-ahead gravy. Make-ahead stuffing.

Back in 2018, I added make-ahead, garlic mashed potatoes. And I'm here to tell you they were the best mashed potatoes ever. First off, I avoided all of the chemistry-class theatrics required of boiling potatoes from scratch with cold water. And that method requires great precision in order to serve piping hot potatoes with piping hot turkey at the same time.

This method is foolproof. You cannot screw it up. Anyone who can read can make perfect mashed potatoes. It will transform you instantly...drop the "Home Cook" moniker and embrace the new you: "Gourmet Chef."

While the recipe calls for peeled potatoes, I really like the skins, so I don't peel mine. As a bonus, the skin is the tastiest and most nutrient-rich part of the potato. This recipe makes 20 servings. My experience is that the majority of folks come back for seconds....and a few for thirds.

Ingredients
5 pounds of russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, each potato peeled (optional) and quartered
8 cloves garlic, peeled
1-1/2 cups whole milk

8 tablespoons butter
2 cups of half & half
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Chopped chives, for garnish


Directions

1. Peel (or not) and quarter potatoes and place in slow cooker with garlic and 1-1/2 cups of milk. Set slow cooker to high and cover. Cook for 5 hours.
2. After 5 hours, turn slow cooker to warm. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes right in the slow cooker.
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan. When melted, add half & half to the pan and heat to warm (do not boil). When warm, add mixture to slow cooker. Using masher, blend potatoes with butter/half & half mixture.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste....a half of a teaspoon at a time for the uninitiated.
5. Cover potatoes in slow cooker (still set to warm) and serve whenever you want.

Thanksgiving: Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy

 

Being obsessive-compulsive is actually an admirable and valuable quality if you are a cook. I find that it comes in especially handy at Thanksgiving, where micro-managing the production of an enormous feast is no small feat.

In order to handle the complexity of the Thanksgiving meal preparation, I create a very comprehensive list of every task that must be accomplished and at precisely what time to perform that task. It starts, just after noon, with the roasting of the turkey. Then the schedule is set to make sure that everything gets done so that we can eat precisely and exactly at 6:00pm. Not 6:01pm, but 6:00pm in strict accordance with the atomic clock in my kitchen.

But regardless of the schedule, there are two items that always need my attention at the very last, frenetic second...the carving of the turkey and the making of the gravy. I'm really good at quickly carving a turkey, so I always take on that duty. 

Which leaves me with the gravy. I'm really anal about making turkey gravy from scratch. Use butter and flour to make a roux, then add turkey drippings and turkey stock. The problem here is that the drippings come at the end....after you've removed the turkey for carving.

But alas, Mark Bittman (former food writer for the New York Times) solved my problem by creating this make-ahead gravy recipe. It can be made up to five days in advance, then re-heated just in time for Thanksgiving dinner. And the gravy still gets the flavor boost from the pan drippings...you just add them in at the last second to your already "at serving temperature" gravy. This recipe yields about 5 cups of gravy.

A small note here about the stock. Most grocery stores have an abundance of turkey stock on their shelves at this time of year. But if you couldn't find any or simply forgot to pick some up, chicken stock is a really good second choice.


INGREDIENTS

For the Gravy
1 stick of butter (4 ounces)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup flour
Salt and pepper
4 cups warm turkey stock
Turkey drippings

Thickening/Thinning Agents

Potato flakes

1 cup turkey stock

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, then add onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour on the onions, stirring constantly, and cook until flour is golden to brown. Adjust heat so mixture does not burn.
2. Gradually whisk in 4 cups of warm stock until mixture thickens and is smooth. If it is too thick, add more stock. Cool, cover and chill. Gravy can be held up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
3. When ready to serve, reheat mixture over low heat, stirring. Scrape bottom of turkey pan and add drippings  to gravy. Whisk to mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasonings. 
4. OPTIONAL: If you want your gravy thicker, add 1 tablespoon of potato flakes at a time (whisking thoroughly) until you get the consistency you want.  If you want your gravy thinner, add 1 tablespoon of turkey stock at a time (whisking thoroughly) until you get the consistency you want.
5. Serve.

Thanksgiving: Hot Italian Sausage Stuffing

 

If you are smoking your turkey on a pellet grill, you'll want to bake your stuffing in the oven. If you are deep frying your turkey, you'll want to bake your stuffing in the oven. If you are roasting a whole turkey for Thanksgiving, you'll want to bake your stuffing separately in the oven. You don't ever want to bake  stuffing in the turkey's body cavity. Let me explain why.

If your turkey is cooked to perfection, the stuffing in the cavity is going to be undercooked. That sort of error leads to salmonella, in which case your guests will suffer horrific gastrointestinal pain followed by death. If your stuffing in the cavity is cooked to 165º perfection, the meat on your turkey will be overcooked and your guests will chew on it as if it were part of the sidewall of a worn Pirelli Formula One tire.

So do the right thing. Bake your stuffing by itself in the oven. It will taste fantastic with no chance of flatlining your guests. This recipe is incredibly easy. It uses simple, store-bought ingredients and comes together very quickly. 

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds hot Italian sausage

2 yellow onions, chopped

6 stalks celery, chopped

16 ounces mushrooms, chopped

10 tablespoons butter

4 cups chicken broth

2, 12-ounce bags Pepperidge Farm Sage & Onion Cubed Stuffing

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium high heat, heat olive oil until it is shimmering. Then add sausage, onions, celery and mushrooms. Cook until there is no pink in the sausage and all of the vegetables have softened (about 8 minutes).
2. In a large saucepan, heat butter and chicken broth over medium heat until all of the butter has melted into the broth.
3. Preheat oven to 350º.
4. In a large casserole, add the two bags of cubed stuffing. Add sausage, onions, celery and mushrooms then stir thoroughly to mix. Then add broth/butter mixture and stir again to thoroughly mix.
5. Cover casserole and bake for 60 minutes. Remove cover for last 15 minutes if you like your stuffing browned. Serve.

Warm Bacon and Mushroom Salad

Becky and I like to have a salad with just about every dinner. But with a distinct chill in the air, there are nights when a warm salad is much preferred over a cold one.. This is one our favorite cold weather salads and the two main ingredients, bacon and mushrooms, add comforting warmth and blockbuster flavors to the salad.

I want you to be sure and secure the right kind of bacon. We will have two requirements. First, you want thick-sliced bacon. You need some substance to partner with roasted mushrooms. Skinny bacon is out. And skip hickory smoked. You want applewood smoked bacon...unique for its complex and sophisticated combination of flavors. 

1.  

Next up on our favorite foods list are oven-roasted Cremini mushrooms. A brief flash of high heat will shrink these babies down, concentrating the incredible umami taste into little chewable celebrations of joy. Your palate will be delighted at the fusion of applewood bacon and roasted mushrooms. But wait.....there's more....

To complete the trifecta, we are going to add our very favorite lettuce....arugula. It has a spicy, peppery taste that sits in stark contrast to the bacon and mushrooms. All the salad needs now is a little dressing with lemon, cider vinegar, bacon fat...and a generous helping of goat cheese.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound Cremini mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced thick

1/2 cup olive oil

Kosher salt

1/2 pound thick-sliced applewood smoked bacon, cut into 1/2" strips

1 small sweet yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup cider vinegar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

6 ounces arugula

3/4 cup walnuts

Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425º F.
2. In a large bowl, toss the mushrooms with olive oil. Spread the mushrooms on a sheet pan, salt lightly and roast for 35 minutes, stirring once or twice, until crisp and golden. 
3. In a large skillet, cook the bacon over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel–lined plate. Strain the fat into a heatproof bowl and return half of it to the skillet. Add the onion to the skillet and cook over moderately low heat until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the vinegar and simmer until all of the liquid is reduced to 3 tablespoons, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice and add the remaining bacon fat.
4. In a large bowl, combine the greens with the vinaigrette, mushrooms and walnuts, then toss. Season with salt and pepper and toss again. Sprinkle with the bacon and goat cheese and serve.

Pairing: Pinot Noir

Party Ribs in the Oven

 

 

When you slice up a rack of ribs and cook them as individual pieces, the dish is called Party Ribs. Party ribs are a favorite because they caramelize the rub and sauce on all 4 sides of the rib. And they are called party ribs because they are ready to party the minute you pull them out of the oven. Appy's anyone?

Besides the advantage of party ribs being a lot more flavorful than a rack of ribs, party ribs cook a lot faster than a rack of ribs. It's a breeze to crank out these ribs in under 3 hours....less than half the time of the standard 3-2-1 method. And sure...you could cook them in a smoker. But your oven is a much easier tool and it greatly lessens your workload. And it's always available...regardless of the weather.

Did someone say party ribs?

This recipe scales up easily. But a word of caution....a wire rack/cookie sheet holds 2 racks of ribs. So if you are looking to cook 3 or more racks, you are going to need another cookie sheet set-up.

The second step, which involves coating the ribs with olive oil, is critical so that the rub sticks to the meat. I would also encourage you to tamp down the rub on the ribs to make sure it sticks.

To save cleaning time and elbow grease, line the cookie sheet with foil before you add the wire rack in both steps 3 and 6.

This recipe will give you "tender-to-the-bite" meat still attached to the bone. If you like your rib meat falling off the bone, increase the cooking time in step 5 by 20 minutes (cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes).

INGREDIENTS

1 rack of baby back ribs, trimmed

Olive oil

Famous Dave's Rib Rub

Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce

2 pats of butter

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut ribs into individual pieces by slicing between the bones.
2. Put the ribs in a large bowl and add 1/2 cup olive oil. Toss the ribs until they are well coated with oil.
3. Preheat oven to 325º. Put a wire rack over a cookie sheet. Place the ribs on their sides on the wire rack so that none of the ribs are touching. Pick up each rib, season all sides with Famous Dave's Rib Rub and replace the rib on the rack. Once all ribs are seasoned, slide the rack/sheet into the middle of the oven and cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Remove ribs from oven.
4. Increase oven heat to 350º. Layout 2 large sheets of aluminum foil (for double wrapping the ribs). Pour about half of a cup of BBQ sauce on the bottom of the foil. Then lay ribs out in a single layer on the foil (it's OK if they touch). Pour another half of a cup of BBQ sauce over the top of the ribs and add 2 pats of butter to the top of the ribs. Cover the ribs tightly with foil (but not so tight that the bones puncture the foil).
5. Place foil packet in the oven and cook for 1 hour. Then remove ribs from oven.
6. Increase oven heat to 450º. Carefully remove the ribs from the foil, saving all of the liquid in the foil. Put the wire rack back on the cookie sheet and place the ribs on their sides but not touching each other. Using a basting brush, dip the brush in the liquid in the foil and baste each rib with the liquid. Then slide the rack/sheet into the middle of the oven and cook for 5 minutes until ribs are well-browned. Remove ribs and serve.

Pairing: An ice-cold pilsner.

Bulgogi Sloppy Joes

 

When I was attending Edina's Wooddale Elementary School back in the early 60's, lunch was nothing to write home about. Fish sticks on Fridays. Industrial Mac & Cheese (made with paste) on Tuesdays. Warm whole milk...5 days a week. 

Fortunately, Sloppy Joes made it on the menu about every 2 weeks. And my little-7-year old self would marvel at my plate. Look at the lovely carbs in that big, fluffy bun! Real meat from cows! But alas, the ground beef was flavored with ketchup. Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce was not on the government approved subsidy list. Oh....the horror.

But it is 2024 and a very good time to revisit the beloved sloppy Joes of my youth...but this time with a little Korean twist. Lime juice, sriracha, soy sauce, gochugang, scallions and garlic! Ladies and gentlemen...from the incredible people that brought you kimchi and BTS...welcome if you will...Bulgogi Sloppy Joes!

INGREDIENTS

For the Slaw 

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1-1/2 tablespoons lime juice

3 tablespoons sriracha chile sauce 

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

4 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage

1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

For the Sloppy Joe

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon gochujang

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 pound 90% lean ground beef

4 garlic cloves, pressed or chopped

4 scallions, chopped

4 sesame seed hamburger buns, split and toasted

DIRECTIONS

1. Whisk together first five slaw ingredients in a medium bowl. Add cabbage and onion; toss well to coat. Let stand at room temperature while beef cooks.
2. Whisk together stock, brown sugar, soy sauce, gochujang, and cornstarch in a small bowl; set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Crumble beef into skillet and stir in garlic. Cook, stirring often to break up beef into small pieces, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in scallions, and cook, stirring often, until scallions are softened, about 2 minutes. Add reserved stock mixture. Bring to a simmer over medium-high; cook, stirring often, until sauce is thickened and glossy, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Spoon about 1/2 cup beef mixture onto each bottom bun. Top each with about 1/2 cup cabbage mixture and cover with top buns.

Pairing: Try Kloud, a Korean Pilsner

Grogs and Goldie, 1955

Brisket in the Oven

Yes....I know. The best brisket usually comes out of a smoker. But I have a limited shelf life and I do not wish to spend 15 of my very valuable hours tending to a brisket in a smoker. As an alternative, I can simply do 30 minutes of prep, pop the brisket in the oven and then do whatever the heck I want for the next few hours (Call of Duty, anyone?).

In addition to being expedient, an oven-braised brisket is stupid simple. When smoking a brisket, there are about a dozen pitfalls that you will encounter in the process which diminish your chances for a successful cook. Not so when you use the oven....the ultimate test of culinary skill required for this brisket recipe is a very low bar. Can you accurately set the oven temperature to 300º ? Here's your trophy! 

A full brisket typically tips the scales at 15 pounds...enough to feed the population of Manhattan. You can cook for a crowd like that by scaling the recipe ingredients up 3X. But we make this a lot easier by just cooking a smaller portion of the brisket. Beef brisket is comprised of two cuts, the point and the flat. For this recipe, we are going to opt for the flat-cut. It's a breeze to slice it and the flavor of the meat benefits greatly from the extraordinary fat cap. 

Braised brisket is a gift from the gods.

Here in Minnesota, September has just been an extension of August. Every single day has been identical.....80+ degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Fortunately, fall temps take over on Tuesday. So next weekend would be the perfect time to prepare this luxurious, velvety delight. Given that the recipe is so simple, your greatest challenge will be to come up with side dishes worthy of this impeccable feast.

NOTE: This recipe has a Texas BBQ vibe. If you want something closer to a pot roast, check out Jewish Passover Brisket recipes....which is another oven-based alternative to smoking brisket.

INGREDIENTS

For the Dry Rub 

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons dry mustard

1 bay leaf, crushed

For the Beef Brisket 

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

One, 5 to 6-pound flat-cut beef brisket

4 cups beef stock

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 300º.
2. Combine dry rub ingredients. Season brisket on both sides with the rub.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add brisket and sear on each side until brown and crusty (about 8 minutes per side).
4. After browning, place brisket, fat side up, on the bottom of the Dutch oven. Add enough beef stock to yield 1/2" of liquid in the bottom of the pan.
5. Cover pan tightly with 2 layers of aluminum foil (you want it air tight) and cook for 3 hours.
6. After 3 hours, remove roast to a cutting board and let cool 10 minutes. Cut entire roast into slices.  Then return slices to the braising liquid in the Dutch oven. Cover the Dutch oven again with 2 slices of aluminum foil and cook for 1 more hour.
7. When done cooking, serve slices with braising liquid over the top as an entree. Alternatively, you can add the slices to a roll and use the braising liquid to dip your sandwiches in.

Wine pairing: Cabernet Sauvignon

Grilled Chicken Breast, Pantry Version

 

In a perfect world, we'd have a grocery store right next to our house. That would make it so easy to figure out what we could have for dinner that night. OK....our main grocery store is only a half-mile away. But there are days you just don't feel like running to the store. What do we have in the house?

We tend to eat a lot of chicken breast, so I stockpile it in the freezer. For buying in bulk, Costco gets the nod. They sell a 6.5-pound bag of frozen, skinless and boneless chicken for just $26.99. If I decide to grill chicken breasts that night, first thing in the morning I put them in a ziplock bag and bathe them in a big bowl of cold water. After 2 hours, they are thawed and ready for the all-important prep..

When grilling beef, I never use a marinade. Just salt and pepper, thank you. But skinless, boneless chicken breasts are also flavorless. I'm a big fan of richly-flavored food, so when there are chicken breasts....THERE WILL BE MARINADE! I pound the breasts flat (so they cook evenly), then pierce them full of tiny fork holes so the flavor is present in every bite.

To make this perfect pantry meal, I grab Ken's Steak House Zesty Italian Dressing. It's my favorite pork and chicken marinade. No measuring. No mixing. Unscrew the cap and pour it on the chicken. For a quick pantry meal, it does not get any easier than this.

INGREDIENTS

2 boneless, skinless, flavorless chicken breasts

1/3 bottle Ken's Steakhouse Zesty Italian Dressing

DIRECTIONS

1. Place a thawed chicken breast in a ziplock bag. Using a meat mallet, flatten the chicken breast so that it is a uniform thickness. Repeat with the other breast.
2. Pierce chicken breasts thoroughly with a fork. Place breasts in a new ziplock bag and add 1/3 bottle of dressing. Let marinate in the fridge for 2 hours.
3. Prepare your grill for direct cooking over medium-high heat.
4. Remove breasts from marinade and dry off with paper towels. Grill chicken for 4 minutes on the first side, then flip and cook 4 minutes more. Serve.

Wine pairing: Chardonnay

2024 has been a rough year for veterans of the Lazy H. The best group of people worked at Hoigaard's Ski Shop during the early 70's. And there were two best friends among us who were beloved by all. Ken Platou, on the left, passed last week after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Bob Wood, on the right, left us in January after a battle with covid. Two of the nicest and kindest guys you would ever want to meet...and they will be missed. A lot.

Penne Allesandrio

 

I suppose I started this little segue of my boys' favorite birthday meals with Patrick's Fried Pasta recipe last Saturday. So it is only fair that I share Sean's birthday favorite....one that's been popping up for the last 29 years.

This is a classic Italian recipe with classic Italian ingredients: semolina penne, hot Italian sausage, onions, roasted red peppers...along with fennel seeds and red chili flakes. But there is no red sauce here...extra-virgin olive oil takes the starring role as our "sauce". 

Sean loves his hot Italian sausage, so I long ago switched up the sausage quantity from 1 pound to 2 pounds. I would encourage you to sear them in 4 separate batches. To really appreciate the flavors in this meal, it is imperative to put a good, solid char on the sausage.

I used to make the whole recipe in a Dutch oven. Doing that, though, was a bit of a challenge as I wanted more sear on my sausage. So I use a flaming hot wok to brown my sausage and then dump it into the Dutch oven. 

Just a few words about the roasted red bell peppers in this recipe. If you are ambitious, you can roast your own and cut them into strips. I prefer to let someone else roast them so that I can just drain and dump them in. My favorite brand is Cento. Depending on your grocery store, Cento offers both whole cooked peppers and the same in strips. You'll find them in the condiment aisle...same place as jarred olives.

INGREDIENTS

5 separate tablespoons olive oil for cooking sausage and onion

2 pounds hot Italian sausage links, sliced into pieces 1-1/2" long

1 large yellow onion, cut into rings; then cut the rings in half

1, 12-ounce jar Cento roasted red peppers, cut in strips

4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes

1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning

16-ounces penne pasta

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (or more to taste)

Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Grated parmesan (for passing)

DIRECTIONS

1. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a large Dutch oven and heat pan to medium-high. Add 1/4 of sliced sausage links and stir until pieces are very well browned. Transfer links to a large bowl and wipe Dutch oven clean. Repeat process 3 more times to cook all of the sausage. 
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add penne and cook until al dente. Drain pasta in a colander and rinse with cold water so pasta stops cooking. Let pasta rest in colander.
3. Add another tablespoon of olive oil and add onions to Dutch oven. Stir until onions are softened. Turn heat to medium low.
4. Add the cooked sausage, pasta, roasted peppers, garlic, fennel, red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning to the onions in the Dutch oven. Stir to mix. Then add 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil. Turn heat back to medium-high and stir often until all of the ingredients are heated through. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.
5. Serve, passing parmesan to your guests.

Wine pairing: Brunello di Montalcino

Fried Pasta

 

If you are watching your diet and trying to minimize carbs, read no further. Move on and be smart about it. There is nothing to see here. If you do stick around, be advised that this meal will put you into carbohydrate-induced cardiac arrest with the first bite. 

There are only two reasons on earth that I make this meal. First, it is my younger son Patrick's very favorite meal. Not steak. Not tacos. Not burgers. Fried pasta is the birthday meal request that I have been given for the last 27 years in a row.

The second reason I make it is that few things in life taste as good as this. I mean this meal is a caloric disaster of epic proportions. Eat this and they will be able to see your ass from the International Space Station. But one bite and you are hooked. Fried pasta, garlic, parmesan cheese...OH, MY! How a few simple ingredients can elevate a meal to heights unimagined.

Creamette, a company started in 1912 in Minneapolis, makes the most perfect pasta for this meal. Dumpling Egg Noodles are always my first choice. They get super hard and crispy on the outside....and they are creamy soft on the inside....almost like eating a crispy, baked potato made entirely of egg pasta.

A word about the best cooking method for this dish. I have always used a large electric fry pan with a cover. I like it because it does a perfect job of maintaining 350º for the duration of the cook and it holds 2 bags of egg noodles with ease. That 350º is the perfect temp to get a crispy exterior and a creamy, soft interior. Also, the cover holds in the heat....crisping the exterior and melting the cheese. You can use any pan with a cover for similar results....the only challenge being maintaining a constant 350º.

The recipe below is the one I use for Patrick. It's a double helping....because Patrick always consumes almost all of the 24 ounces of pasta in a single sitting. If your crowd is a little less hungry, you can cut the recipe in half (if you use a smaller pan).

INGREDIENTS

2, 12-ounce bags of Creamette Egg Dumpling Noodles

4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided 

2 tablespoons butter

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided 

Garlic salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles and cook until al dente.
2. Drain pasta thoroughly in a colander.
3. Turn electric fry pan to 350º. When heated, add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and butter to the pan. When butter is melted, spread oil/butter across bottom of pan and add egg noodles and spread out in a single layer. Spread minced garlic and 1/2 cup of cheese on top of noodles. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes until bottom is crisp.
4. Uncover fry pan and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over pasta. Then flip all of the noodles. Sprinkle turned pasta with another 1/2 cup grated parmesan. Cover pan and cook for another 8-10 minutes until that side is crisp.
5. Uncover pan. Season to taste with garlic salt (go easy....parmesan has a lot of sodium). Cut into 8 sections with a spatula and serve.