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How to Really Taste Wine | Drinking Out Loud | News & Features | Wine Spectator

Italian Dinner

Hello again!
I trust everyone is well and not running around too much and too fast. As we all know the Holidays can get that way if we let them. To all my non Christian friends I would like to my offer peace to you as well.

Ahh Italy! We were fortunate enough to visit Italy a few years ago. We flew into Milano, drove to Montalcino stayed for a couple of nights. I booked a room for us in a 500 year old hotel and we had a wine tasting in a 13th century castle. There seemed to be castles on every hilltop. It was so very very cool, which would make sense. If I were top dog in those days I would want to see who is coming to MY castle, so I could get my armor on and go out for a jousting.
 Then Roma. Rome was amazing. We even drove into it because we drove through the vineyards trying to save time and ended up driving into Rome during evening rush hour. All the time we were there we didn't have a bad glass of wine and had some amazing food and I had more than my share of gelato.
That brings me to my last dinner for a purpose, shall we say. Manicotti! A dish everyone can eat. Our 15 month old loved it! This is another dish you can cook ahead of time and re-heat it. Making it great for the
family coming home late from after school activities and work, not to mention trying to squeeze in Christmas shopping. I bought a nice jar of locally made marinara sauce our grocer carries, but your favorite brand will work just as well. I usually add about a half cup of wine and simmer it for 30 to 60 min. You can even add
 a little more basil for good measure, just to personalize it and wake it up, so to speak. Lastly I found a bottle of Rosso Di Montalcino on sale, it was a great pairing with the Manicotti.
And last but not least, Giada DeLaurentiis' recipe, was awesome and easy to make...
Recipe kindness: giadadelaurentiis.com
I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. I will post another blog in late January after taking some time for my knee to heal.

Ready for the oven  

Looking good 

Thank you very much for reading my blog. I look forward to hearing from folks and especially want to hear your comments and suggestions. Please like us on Facebook and don't forget to visit www.websterwoodcreations.com and take advantage of the Christmas sales going on now. All the best,    Mark

I hope you enjoy this scrumptious and easy to prepare meal.
Have a save and Merry Christmas.

beef and cheese manicotti

from the book, Everyday Italian. get this book >

This is a one dish meal. You can make it ahead of time and bake right before you serve it. Boy oh boy is it YUMMY!!!!

ingredients

6 servings

Beef and Cheese Manicotti 4 teaspoons olive oil 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped 1 pound ground beef Salt and freshly ground black pepper 14 (8-ounce package) manicotti 1 (15-ounce) container whole-milk ricotta 3 cups shredded mozzarella 1 cup grated Parmesan 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves 2 garlic cloves, minced 3 cups marinara sauce 2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

instructions

Beef and Cheese Manicotti Heat a heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of the olive oil, onion and ground beef. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until the meat browns and the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and cool. Brush 1 teaspoon of oil over a large baking sheet. Cook the manicotti in a large pot of boiling salted water until slightly softened, but still very firm to the bite, about 4 to 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the manicotti from the pot to the oiled baking sheet and cool. Meanwhile, combine the ricotta, 1 1/2 to 2 cups mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and parsley. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper to taste, and mix. Stir the cooled meat mixture into the cheese mixture. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil over a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Spoon 1 1/2 cups of the marinara sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Fill the manicotti with the cheese-meat mixture. Arrange the stuffed pasta in a single layer in the prepared dish and spoon the remaining sauce over. Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese, then the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan over the stuffed pasta. Dot entire dish with the butter pieces. Bake the manicotti uncovered until heated through and the sauce bubbles on the sides of the dish, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let the manicotti stand 5 minutes and serve.

The Day after Pot Pie

Turkey pot pie with a salad and glass of Chianti

Hello there! I found a recipe for a pot pie you can use for a home cooked meal or to serve with friends. It's that good! Oooo baby!

I found this recipe on Pinterest and was intrigued by the fact it has Pancetta in it. So I said to myself, what is Pancetta?, better look it up. It is Italian bacon that is salt cured, unlike our bacon which is smoke cured.
So with a very good Italian market on "The Hill" here in St. Louie I was set . My wife was good enough, as always to pick up my supplies from the grocery store and I'll get some of the specialty items. The filling is easy and goes by in a snap. To my taste, though I prefer a little more of the thyme flavor so I would add another 1/2 tablespoon to the filling. I would not try substituting bacon for Pancetta because of the smoky flavor.
The crust was delicious as well! The cornmeal and the Parmesan cheese in the mixture made for a thick crust  that was deliciously tender. My wife had a 3 inch pastry cutter that fit perfectly the 3 inch casserole our daughter Toni had just bought and very kindly let me use. They made for some nice pictures too! I served my pot pies with a nice little Chianti and were quite satisfied. Thanks again Giada! They were great

Recipe kindness of Giada De Laurentiis - www.giadadelaurentiis.com

Enjoy and be safe this holiday season!

Mom preparing for her solo, with Sophie's help.

Oh yeah! This part.

Turkey and Pancetta pot pies

Ingredients

6 servings

Filling 4 ounces finely diced Pancetta 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 large or 2 small shallots, chopped 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced into ½-inch pieces 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves ½ teaspoon kosher salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper ¼ cup flour 2 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth ¼ cup heavy cream 3 cups (about 14 ounces) roasted turkey breast meat, cut into ½-inch pieces 1 cup frozen peas, thawed ½ cup frozen corn, thawed

Crust ¾ cup flour, plus extra for dusting ¼ cup cornmeal ¼ teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes 1 cup grated Parmesan ⅓ cup buttermilk, plus extra, as needed 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Special equipment: 6 (10-ounce) ramekins, each 2 ½ inches tall and 3 ½ inches in diameter. A 3-inch round cookie cutter

Instructions

Filling Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the Pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until brown and crispy, about 8 minutes. Pour the Pancetta and any cooking juices onto a paper towel-lined pate. Add the butter, shallots, carrots and thyme to the saucepan. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook until the carrots are tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Increase the heat to high. Add the chicken broth and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook until the mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Add the cooked pancetta, heavy cream, turkey, peas, corn, and the remaining salt and pepper. Simmer for 3 minutes until heated through. Using a ladle, fill the ramekins with the mixture.

Crust In a food processor, pulse together the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the butter and cheese and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. With the machine running, add 1/3 cup buttermilk and the oil. Process until the mixture begins to form a ball, adding extra buttermilk, 1 teaspoon at a time, if needed. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 10-inch diameter circle, about 1/4-inch thick. Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut the dough into 6 circles and place on top of the filling. Bake until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Greek noodle Casserole, (Pastitsio)

From the late blogger who will try to be more on time in December ( I am probably setting myself up for failure, but we'll see if, I can handle the pressure!) ...

I saw the recipe for a Greek casserole on Giada's Pinterest page. It looked great. I have to tell you, Giada's topping looked much better than mine. Frankly the photo of her casserole looked like roasted noodles on the top. I suspect she daubed the sauce with a spatula to lift the topping and create the look of a meringue as if it were fresh out of the oven. So you can try this tip if you want. So, onward...
My wife and daughter thought it was fantastic! I mentioned it to a new client who is looking for some custom built-ins and her eyes lit up, I took that as a good sign as she said Mrs. D. is one of her favorite chef's, and what was my favorite recipe of hers...
Since it contains yogurt,  I can't forget about little Sophie who is a big yogurt fan from way back. It is amazing the food she eats at 14 months. We used to chop it up so fine you would think we put in a food processor, but not these days. They almost eat the same texture foods we eat.
So anyway, back to the recipe at hand. I was a little skeptical with all  the yogurt and mint in the casserole. It's the guy thing I guess, but while I was putting the ingredients together and adding the cumin, coriander, cinnamon and the rest of the spices and finishing with the basil tomato sauce, I started realizing the depth and complexity of the casserole dish. In fact Ann (wife) took some to a Colombian co-worker who loved it. They both dubbed it "Greek Lasagna".  So, in my humble opinion, this casserole is fast and easy to make. Not to mention delicious.
Enjoy and be safe!
Mark
  Recipe kindness... giadadelaurentiis.com
 I have pasted the recipe from Mrs. De Laurentiis' website below for your convenience. The recipe is as follows...

greek noodle casserole (pastitsio)

ingredients

6 to 8 servings

Casserole Butter, for greasing the baking dish Kosher salt 12 ounces egg noodles 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 large onion, chopped ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 3 cloves garlic, chopped or smashed 1 pound ground lamb 2 tablespoons ground cumin 2 teaspoons ground coriander 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground allspice One 26-ounce jar tomato-basil sauce (3 ¼ cups) 1 ½ packed cups fresh mint leaves, chopped

Sauce 1 cup milk, at room temperature ½ cup heavy cream, at room temperature 3 cups grated Parmesan (about 6 ounces) 1 cup plain Greek yogurt, at room temperature ¼ cup chopped fresh mint leaves, optional

instructions

Casserole Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the noodles until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 7 to 9 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the onion, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add the lamb, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, allspice, 1 teaspoon salt and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until cooked through, about 6 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and mint. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Sauce Simmer the milk and cream over medium heat in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Reduce the heat to low. Add the cheese and whisk until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the yogurt. Add the meat sauce to the pasta and toss well until the noodles are coated. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish. Spoon the cheese sauce evenly on top and bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped mint if using, and serve.

Roasted Pork Loin

Giada De Laurentiis

30 min50 min80 min

ingredients

4 to 6 servings

Roasted Pork Loin ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oilextra virgin olive oil¼ One 1 ½-pound pork tenderloinpork tenderloin1 Kosher salt and freshly ground pepperkosher salt and freshly ground black pepper1 8 ounces assorted mushrooms, such as cremini and button, quarteredassorted mushrooms8 2 cloves garlic, mincedgarlic clove2 1 medium onion, dicedonion1 3 tablespoons all-purpose flourall purpose flour3 One 750-ml bottle dry white wine, such as pinot grigiodry white wine1 6 ounces fontina cheese, cut into twelve 1 ½-by-1-inch slices, each about ¼-inch thickfontina cheese6 3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsleyflat-leaf parsley3

instructions

Roasted Pork Loin Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the pork on all sides with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Cook the pork, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer the pork to a 13-by-9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Add the mushrooms, garlic, onions, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft, about 8 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Increase the heat to high. Add the wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Pour the wine mixture into the dish with the pork and bake until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the pork registers 165 degrees F, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pork to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes. Pour the pan juices into a medium saucepan. Stir in the parsley and keep warm over low heat. Season with salt and pepper. Cut the pork into twelve 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange in a single layer in the baking dish and place a piece of cheese on each slice. Bake until the cheese is melted, 3 to 4 minutes. Spoon the wine sauce over the top of the pork and serve. Recipe kindness of Giada DeLaurentiis: www.giadadelaurentiis.com

Roasted Pork Loin

September 18,2012

This last Sunday I made a pork tenderloin roast. I started by trimming the thin sinew from the meat and with a sharp knife it only takes maybe 5 minutes. Make sure you have a sharp knife though. Next it was olive oil and flame on time to brown the meat then off to the baking dish. The veggies get cooked and a full bottle of wine for the sauce. Somebody must be Italian because She calls for whole bottle of Pinot Grigio. I thought, wow, this will be good, better make sure to cook for a bit because our 1 year old will be partaking in this meal with us.  Yes I did the Julia Child thing and had a pinch (2)  for me! I looked for the fontina cheese and found it w/out too much trouble. I did find that provolone cheese is a good substitute if you can't find the fontina cheese. The internet is awesome!

So with all that prep done and in the oven I could park it for a few minutes. OK! I had another glass of Pinot G.

So with the roast made and the homemade (by moi) peach cobbler via Paulla Dean and a nice bottle of Pinot Grigio for my wife, our of age daughter, and me, we ate. It was very delicious. The little sugar baby was eating with both hands and was making the noise for more little bites of the cobbler.

 The pork tenderloin and mushroom/wine sauce was very low fat. I had 3, 1/2" thick slices with the cheese

and wine sauce and was very satisfied. I almost forgot to mention, I made Orzo pasta for a side . My wife spooned on some of the Ponot Grigio sauce on hers but you can add a little chicken broth too, in the pan if you want. Lastly there was fresh broccoli with some lemon juice and blanched almonds.
I hope you try this recipe, its a piece of cake! ) Thank you for following WWC

Enjoy!
Mark





My two lovely daughters



The infamous dinner







The chef adding the onions to make the sauce




















Homegrown basil pesto

Photo: Basil Pesto Recipe

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Total Time:

5 min

Prep

5 min

Yield:

1 cup

Level:

Easy

Basil PestoRecipe courtesy Food Network Kitchens

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Ingredients

• 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino cheese

Directions

Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and mix in the cheese.

If freezing, transfer to an air-tight container and drizzle remaining oil over the top. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and stir in cheese.

Copyright 2003 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved

©Television Food Network G.P.
All Rights Reserved.

Ingredients

• 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino cheese

Directions

Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and mix in the cheese.

If freezing, transfer to an air-tight container and drizzle remaining oil over the top. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and stir in cheese.

Copyright 2003 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved

I never tried Pesto before but I found it was quite good. I used pine nuts but you can use walnuts if you don't have pine nuts.

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