Spicy Chicken with Olives

This is a recipe I tried and modified slightly. It is really tasty - and if you have all the ingredients, really simple to make.

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1 4-6 lb. chicken
• 2 tbsp. of Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp. of ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped marjoram, oregano or sage
• 1 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• Coarse sea salt
• 1 cup pitted green and black olives

Remove the backbone from your chicken and flatten it prior to cooking. This is relatively easy, turn the chicken over - breastbone down, and cut out the spine. Flatten chicken in a glass baking pan. The chicken cooks more evenly and in less time.

Preheat oven to 425degrees. Lightly grease a large baking pan with olive oil. Put chicken, skin side up in pan.

In a small bowl, stir mustard, black pepper, marjoram, rosemary and red pepper flakes until it makes an even paste. Spread the mixture over the chicken evenly, season with sea salt. Drizzle about one teaspoon of olive oil across each chicken.

Bake chickens about 30 minutes. Sprinkle the black and green olives over the chicken and continue to bake until the skin is golden and chicken is cooked through, about 35 minutes more. Remove from oven and allow to rest for about 10 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!!!

Shrimp & Crab Claw Scampi

Looking for a nice seafood dish? One that is easy to make but tastes like it took forever? If so, scampi is a good choice. I usually make it with just shrimp but I had some crab claws in the freezer so I threw those in as well.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. shelled, deveined shrimp, large
• 1 lb. dungeness crab claws
• 2 sticks of butter
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• Fresh lemon
• Tarragon
• Salt, Pepper
• Red Pepper Flakes
• White or Brown Rice, steamed

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add garlic and saute until transparent. Crush a teaspoon of tarragon between your fingers and add slowly to the mix, add juice of half a lemon, a dash of salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and set aside.

 Place a single layer of shrimp and crab claws in the bottom of a shallow baking pan. Pour the butter mixture over top and 'stir' the seafood until liberally coated.

Place the pan under a pre-heated broiler for approx. 2-3 minutes. Stir, and place back under the broiler until shrimp is done. (about 5-7 minutes total)

Serve over rice with garlic bread.

Yum.

Dry Rubbed Ribs

Okay, yum! Nothing is better than ribs that are dry rubbed with seasoning and baked until crispy. These ribs taste like you spent hours cooking . . . and you did (spend hours cooking)! But trust me, they are worth it. 

All you need is a couple of pounds of ribs and some seasoning. Seasoning is important, but the secret is how long - and how you cook the ribs. 

Here we go -

Boil the ribs (yes, boil) in a large pot with garlic cloves, black pepper, red pepper flakes and salt. I use about 4-5 cloves and a teaspoon or so off everything else. Ribs should boil AT LEAST an hour - I generally try to boil an hour and a half to two. 

Once boiled, lay flat in a shallow baking pan and rub with a mixture of:

• Garlic Powder (2-3 tablespoons)
• Sea Salt (2 tablespoons)
• Cayenne Pepper (1 tablespoon)
• Chili Powder (1 tablespoon)

Don't be shy - apply the rub liberally and sprinkle any extra over the ribs. Drizzle the ribs with a mixture of olive oil and Tabasco sauce (75/25 mix) and set under the broiler approx. 10 minutes. 

Once brown - flip and broil another ten. 

These ribs are so delicious, so tender, so mouth watering that I guarantee you will think twice about going back to barbeque. 

Enjoy.

Quick & Easy Pizza

Okay - this should not even count as a recipe, but sometimes the simplest things to make take a bit of time to figure out! This is so SIMPLE that I am not even going to list ingredients - you just have to read down.

So go to your grocer - or local Italian market and buy either fresh or frozen pizza dough. Make your own? Why bother . . . much easier this way.

Sprinkle flour on a cutting board or flat surface and roll out the dough. Don't toss it - that only works in the movies and certain pizza shops. I tried it, it wasn't pretty.

Once dough is flat, place on a round (or rectangle baking pan). Cover dough with pizza sauce, again available at your local grocer. Make sure you buy PIZZA sauce, not tomato, big difference.

Cover liberally with shredded mozzarella, asiago, and provolone. If you don't care for all three, just do the mozzarella. Cover with mushrooms, bacon or sausage (pre-fried), black olives, whatever . . .

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes until golden brown.

Simple right? Sure is . . . and delicious.

Joe's Stuffed Poblanos

This is a new favorite. I am not a fan of stuffed peppers but absolutely love the spiciness of this dish combined with the traditional stuffing. It is yum-alicious!!

Ingredients:

• 4 large poblano peppers
• 1 cup cooked rice (not instant)
  
• 1/2 lb Italian sausage (can substitute ground beef or turkey)
  
• 1/2 cup shredded asiago cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded hard goat cheese or soft chevre
• 1 quart tomato sauce (Sept. '09 posting)
  

In a large bowl, mix cold cooked rice, de-cased raw sausage, cheeses and a few tablespoons of sauce.

Remove the ends of the peppers and de-seed.

Tightly pack stuffing into the peppers and replace the ends (which is purely cosmetic but cool!).

Pour the remaining sauce into a shallow baking dish.

Lay peppers in the sauce and cover tightly with lid or foil. Bake for ~1 hour at 350 or until peppers are soft.

Serve with pasta using the now, fra diavlo sauce from the peppers.

Very delicious. Thanks Joe!!

Linguini with White Clam Sauce

First of all . . . Happy 2010! I hope your year is a great one!!!

Last posting was clams - let's continue the trend!! Here is a very simple - but as always - delicious recipe for you to enjoy.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of baby clams
• 1 dozen fresh clams (cherry stone) optional
  
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups of white wine
• Red pepper flakes
• Parsley
• Linguini (1 lb.)
• 1/2 stick of butter
  
• Olive oil
• Grated cheese
  

Coat the bottom of a medium pot with olive oil. Add garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes (a pinch is literally that! a pinch - in this case, maybe 10-12 pepper flakes!) and saute until transparent. Add the juice from the canned clams and white wine - bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and let cook for about 15-20 minutes.

Add clams, pinch of parsley and return to boil. Lower immediately to a simmer and let cook for another ten minutes or so.

AT THE EXACT SAME TIME:

Cook linguine according to package. Drain and return to pot with 1/2 stick of butter.

When there is approximately 3 minutes pasta cooking time left.

In another small pot - add about a cup of water and fresh clams. Cover and place over high heat - clams should open in less than a minute.

Place pasta in bowls Pasta Bowls - Set of 6 - Made in Italy and generously cover with sauce. Sprinkle liberally with Parmesan and place 4-5 fresh clams as garnish.

Serve hot with garlic bread . . . yum!!! Enjoy - and again . . . happy, happy, happy New Year. The best in 2010.

Clams Casino with Bacon

Nice appetizer to start any meal! Easier than you think to make - way easy to eat!!!

Ingredients:

• Whole fresh clams, medium sized (3-5 per guest)
• Green bell pepper
• Garlic clove
• Celery
• Small onion
• Butter
• Grated cheese (Parmesan or Locatelli)
• Hot Sauce
• Bacon strips (cut in about 1/2" slices)
  
• Coarse salt
  

Soak the clams in cold water for about an hour or so to purge sand. Empty and refill 2-3 times over the course of the hour - the colder the water, the better. I throw a tray of ice cubes in each time I rinse.

Half clams and scrape 'meat' into the deeper shell. Set on a shallow baking pan. I sprinkle a liberal layer of coarse salt on the pan to hold the clams still during cooking.

Finely mince 1/2 bell pepper, 2 sticks of celery, garlic (1-2 cloves) and 1 small onion. In a small saucepan melt a stick of butter and add the vegetables, simmer until soft.

Add a small teaspoon of the above to each of the clams, sprinkle with grated cheese - add a dash of hot sauce and then top with a bacon slice.

Place in 350 degree preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

Serve hot.

Enjoy!