A Very Simple Veal Stew with Polenta

This really is a lovely dish. The veal is mild. The sauce is mild. Even without the polenta, it's delicious on its own. Or with a bit of noodles or mashed potatoes on the side which, in the past, is how I would usually serve it. But this time, I wanted something a bit "lovelier" that would complement but not overpower the simple stew. Polenta with a bit of beef broth and Parmesan did the trick.

I have made this recipe for years. I have no idea where I got it. I did a few quick searches on the Internet and found one on All Recipes, but I know that's not where I got it. Five or so years ago, I included it in a "family cookbook" I gave away as gifts. A similar recipe appears in the vintage "Antoinette Pope Cookbook."

If you're like me, you ask yourself how a simple recipe of meat, onions, a bit of garlic and tomato sauce can work. Well, it does!

Veal is not always easy to find. And, like most meats, it has gone up in price. Sometimes, a supermarket will cut up veal it can't sell into "stew meat" at a lower price. That's the time to snatch it.

I had intended to make the polenta in advance so it could "set up." I thought I'd slice it and give it a quick sear in a pan. But "loose" seemed the way to go. 

Rosemary can be overpowering, so be careful. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Plate #2 in a series of six that I painted many, many years ago.

Serves 2-3. Easily Doubled

• 1 lb. veal stew meat, patted dry
• 6 tablespoons tomato sauce (canned is just fine)
• 1/4 cup dry, white wine
• 1-1.5 cups diced onion
• 2 medium cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1, 3-inch rosemary frond
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil/butter

Melt a bit of butter and olive oil in a skillet. When sizzling, add the veal and brown. Remove from pan and set aside. You may to do this in two batches. It's not necessary to cook the veal all the way through.

Add onion to skillet and cook just until they begin to soften a bit. Add the garlic. Stir until fragrant. Add the tomato sauce and wine. Add a bit of salt but more pepper. Add the thyme. Reduce to low and simmer for about 1.5-2 hours, covered. About thirty minutes before serving, add the rosemary sprig.

POLENTA

• 1.5 cups beef broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup polenta (I use Red Mill)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons fresh-grated Parmesan cheese
• Pepper
• Smoked paprika (optional)

Bring beef broth, water and salt to a boil. Using a whisk, slowly whisk in the polenta and lower heat to medium. Stir for 15 minutes until thick. Hold the whisk firmly while stirring. The easiest way to do this is to make a fist and insert the handle into it. This gives you more leverage without tiring your hand.

I have to say . . . I do love plain old McCormick black pepper.

Remove from heat and stir in butter and pepper. Add cheese and stir until melted and incorporated. Pour into a lightly buttered/oiled small loaf pan. At this point, I lightly sprinkle a bit of smoked paprika on one half. Cover with cling wrap and allow to "set." You can make this ahead and refrigerate. When ready to serve, slice and fry in a bit of olive oil just until warmed through.

This will make more polenta than you need for this recipe of veal stew. I like the paprika half to use with the stew. The other half I will slice for leftovers.

Yep, I licked the plate!

Pasta with Italian Sausage, Mushrooms, Spinach and Sage

The days are shorter; the nights, cooler. Salad days are waning. Melons are disappearing from grocery-store shelves and farm stands. It's the season of chrysanthemums, monarch butterflies, school buses and summer memories.

When I have a hectic schedule, which means eating on the run, I reach the point to where I just want a good, filling, home-cooked meal. And one that re-heats easily for leftovers. Pasta always feeds those requirements.

Here, it is summoned with Italian sausages, spinach, mushrooms and earthy sage in a velvety and garlicky sauce that nourishes the most basic of hungers. And more.

Some tips about pasta dishes: it is imperative "to taste as you go." Salt a little at a time as you go through the recipe. Many pasta dishes can be bland, even with the brightest and most savory of ingredients, without the distillation of salt. Allow the dish to rest so the pasta can absorb the flavors and to allow the starches to thicken the sauce. As such, always keep a bit of the pasta water on hand or some extra stock to add as needed.

For this recipe, I used Johnsonville Italian sausages, three hot and three mild. I ended up using all but 1/4 cup of a 14.5 ounce can of chicken stock. Add the stock gradually to give the recipe time to absorb and thicken.

• 1 lb. (about) Italian sausages (I used six links, hot and mild)
• 1 cup chopped sweet onion
• 2 cups chopped mushrooms
• 3 cups lightly-packed fresh spinach leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
• 20 fresh sage leaves, rough-chopped
• Red pepper flakes, just a pinch
• 1 cup cream
• 1, 14.5 oz. low-sodium chicken stock 
• 10 oz. linguine or spaghetti 
• 1/2 cup (or more) Reggiano Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• Salt
• Olive oil
• Butter

Bring to the boil a large pot of salted water.

In a large pan, fill with water just to cover sausages. Simmer about ten minutes. Remove to cool. Add the sausage water to the pot of pasta water. When sausages are cool enough to handle, slice into pieces. Add a bit of oil to the pan and cook sausage pieces just until brown. Remove.

Add a bit of oil and butter to the pan. Add the onion and cook until soft and just beginning to brown. Add the mushrooms and cook until they begin to reduce. Add the garlic and sage and stir just until fragrant. Salt to taste.

Add the cream and about one cup of the chicken stock. Simmer on low until it begins to thicken a bit. Add the sausage and allow to simmer. Taste and add more chicken stock/salt/garlic if needed, remembering that the pasta will mellow your sauce. At this point, I add a pat or two of butter. Last, add the fresh spinach and stir until wilted. Cover to keep warm.

Cook the pasta. Drain. Add the pasta to the pan, a little at a time. Mix with two forks. Add grated cheese and mix. If necessary, add a bit more stock as pasta absorbs the liquid. Also, taste for salt. Pasta can take quite a bit of salt.

Plate. Garnish with additional sage leaves. Serve. Enjoy!

Yes. I made the dish. The design is based on an Ojibway design I copied
from the Chicago Art Institute. I have six plates, different colors.

Notes: I used up a lot of leftover pasta for this recipe, including whole-wheat spaghetti. I'll do that again since I liked the visual play of textures. Add the thicker pastas to the boiling water first, then the thinner a minute or two later.

Fried Perch with Tarragon Butter Sauce

Summer isn't just about the harvest from the garden. It's also about the fresh catch
of the day!

Geographically, for most of my life, Lake Michigan was my playground.

Nostalgically, thus even more so, from a sentimental point of view, was a small pond in the woods behind my house. Jone's Pond. It was a satisfying, easy mile trek down a well-worn dirt path I often took with my little sisters and our Beagle, Buck. It was one of my most favorite of childhood places. We fished it in the summer. We skated it in the winter. It was home to "suicide hill," a treacherous, turning sled ride that steered itself onto the frozen ice below if one could navigate and avoid the large oak trees. A crumpled sled was cast aside as a warning and a reminder ...

There were other near-by watering holes, too. Schilling's Swamp. Plum Creek.

Of course, where's there's water, there's fish. And the fresher the fish, the better the meal. Summer isn't just about garden produce. It's about the freshest catch of the day, too.

For this recipe, I used fresh ocean perch that were not frozen and had arrived that very day.  I had Brad, my fish monger, choose about one pound of the smallest filets. Lake perch is even better, if you can find them. Or afford them. Blue Gill is good, too. 

When coating a fish as delicate as perch, it's important to use crumbs that are just as delicate or fine as possible. Keep the egg wash light, too. I grew up with "buttered perch" from a family restaurant my siblings and I worked for years. It is still in existence. TIEBEL'S. A plate of buttered perch will set you back a good 40 bucks ... or more. When I worked there ... I think it was around $4.50!

For a summer treat, I finely chop fresh tarragon to season the butter. Tarragon, lemon, salt and perch. It's a simple combination for an incredible summer meal.

I first had this dish at a fancy Michigan restaurant on the shores of Lake Michigan. I loved it then. I love it now. Sometimes, I also use dried "Fines Herbs" which is perfect when paired with any delicate white fish.

• 1 lb. fresh perch filets (lake or ocean)
• 2 eggs
• Milk or cream
• Self-rising flour
• Bread crumbs, the finer the better
• Tabasco sauce (optional)
• 1/4 cup butter
• Olive oil
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon finely-minced, fresh tarragon
• Kosher salt
• Fresh Lemon
• Oil for frying, about two cups for a 10 - 12 inch skillet.

First, make the butter. Add the minced tarragon to the butter and microwave until melted. Add a drizzle of olive oil. Stir. Set aside.

Rinse, drain and pay dry the fish.

Gently coat with flour. Set aside.

Crack two eggs into a bowl. With a hand-held beater, gently whisk for about two minutes until thick and bubbly. This is important.

This is what a hand-held beater looks like.

Add a bit of Tabasco to the egg mixture. I generally use about 6-12 drops or so. Add 1 tablespoon of milk or cream to the mixture and whisk until blended.

Coat each floured filet into the egg mixture then gently coat with the bread crumbs. Place on a plate.

Keep the fish coating light. 

Heat about 2 cups of oil in a largish cast-iron skillet or heavy pan. When it begins to shimmer a bit, it's ready. If in doubt, put in a crust of bread or two. If it browns too quickly, lower heat. This is probably the trickiest part of frying fish. If in doubt, you could always use a thermometer that measures the heat for you.

Gently slide in a few filets skin side up! The oil will begin to bubble immediately. Cook on each side for about two minutes or so. My filets were small, so 3-4 minutes total did the trick. The first time you flip the fish, moisture will be released and the oil will splatter. Once the flesh begins to crack, it's done. You will constantly have to adjust the heat as you cook and re-add fish.

Nicely browned. Notice how the fish has "cracked." An indication it is done.

Spoon the tarragon butter sauce over the fish. Sprinkle liberally with Kosher or finishing salt and a squeeze of lemon.

Fresh fish will never smell up your kitchen. Bad fish will. So will bad company.

After coating my fish with bread crumbs, I froze three filets for later use.

Notes: I use White Lily Self-Rising Flour. It's finer in texture than regular flour. Cake flour is a good substitute. Regular flour is fine, just be sure shake off the excess. I generally use corn oil or peanut oil, about two cups for a 10-inch skillet.

If you are adverse to frying fish or anything for that matter, it pays to invest in a "hotplate" or portable gas hot plate and fry outside on your porch or in the garage. It's a game-changer, for sure!

Shoestring Herb Fries (and Steak)

Don't those look good? They were!

I've been seeing quite a few recipes on the web for "herb fries" so I decided to wing it. If you have a mandolin, nothing could be simpler. You want "thin" fries, for this recipe. I tried really really thin spaghetti-like fries, but I found them to thin for a wholesome "chew" or bite. I wanted an outside crunch and still just a bit soft interior.

For the herbs, I used rosemary, thyme and lemon. Yes, lemon. Don't omit it. For a final flair, I zested some Parmesan on top. These were a snap to prepare. Save your oil and do it again the next day.

But what made these even better, was pan-searing a porterhouse steak to go with it. All that was missing was a cold beer.

• 1 russet potato, about 3/4 - 1 pound, thoroughly scrubbed and thinly sliced into fries
• 1 heaping teaspoon mixed, finely minced herbs of thyme and rosemary
• 1 lemon, zested
• 3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and thick sliced
• 1-2 tablespoons kosher salt
• Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• Peanut oil for frying

Place a good 1-2 inches of peanut oil in a medium pan and turn on medium heat. Add the garlic. When garlic turns brown, remove and discard.

Thoroughly mince the herbs with the zest and chop, chop, chop. Add the salt and with a pestle or the back of your knife, and begin working the salt into the herb/citrus mixture. Don't make it too wet, you still want to "sprinkle" it over the fries.

Cut your potatoes.

Add fries to hot oil slowly, you don't want the oil to bubble over and cause a fire. You may need to do this in two batches. Stir occasionally until brown and crisp. Remove to drain on paper towels.

I added a few "onion' pieces to the potatoes as they fried.

Place in a warm 200 F. degree oven to keep warm and crisp while you prepare the rest. When ready to serve, sprinkle with the herb/citrus salt. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve. You could also sprinkle with a bit of pepper or chile powder.


How to Pan-Sear a Steak

First, you need a cast-iron skillet. I can't imagine not cooking a steak without one.

On one side of your steak, season with a bit of garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. That's it.

Get you skillet HOT! Place a pat of butter in the pan and then lay the steak seasoned side down right on top of the butter. Lower heat a bit and don't move the steak. After about 3-5 minutes, take a peek. It should have a nice crust, even some blackened spots. Sprinkle lightly with a bit of salt. Flip. Lower heat a tad more and cook until it reaches desired doneness. I like mine RARE.

Remove to a plate to rest for a few minutes. Slice thinly on a diagonal. Sprinkle with a bit of good salt and, if desired, a quick spritz of fresh lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve.