Roasted Pork Loin with Apples and Cinnamon

By Paul Briand

This recipe came from a visit my wife Jane made to New York state for a girls' weekend with her three daughters. One of the daughters, Reilly, is a student at Ithaca College, so Jane, daughter Kelsey and daughter Eileen made arrangements to travel to Ithaca for a weekend of touring wineries and sightseeing and visiting.

Jane picked up a little brochure with information about apples, in particular apples native to New York state, such as the Empire and Cortland.

The brochure contained information about various apples and various recipes that use apples, including one for Roasted Pork Loin with Apples and Cinnamon.

I made the recipe recently for a big family Sunday dinner and it was a big hit with only a moderate amount of preparation involved.

The idea here is to create a rub for the pork using olive oil, pepper, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. Also, the recipe called for two apples, I used three. And, since we couldn't find a 2-pound pork loin, we bought two loins of about a pound each.

Ingredients
2 pounds boneless pork loin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger, divided
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, divided
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 Cortland apples, cored, peeled and sliced into wedges

Directions
1. Rub pork loins with a mixture of the olive oil, pepper and a 1/2 teaspoon each of the ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon;
2. Roast pork in a shallow pan in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until the interior of the meat reads at least 155 degrees;
3. While the pork is roasting, mix together in a small bowl the rest of the ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon along with the wine, honey and lemon juice;
4. Place mixture in a medium sauce pan and add apples, then simmer until the apples break down into the sauce;
5. When the pork is done, let sit for 10 minutes before slicing and add pork roast juices to the mixture in the sauce pan;
6. Serve sliced pork topped with the apple sauce.

Mediterranean Fish Stew

By Paul Briand

This recipe has been kicking around in my sister Margaret's recipe book for many years, and it's a family favorite.

And I'm being literal when I use the term "kicking around" because an important part of this recipe is a topping that adds some real kick to the stew. The topping is sour cream based and includes cayenne pepper -- the more cayenne the heartier the kick.

Ingredients
(For stew)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion chopped
1 large green pepper chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
2 16-ounce cans of kitchen ready tomatoes
1/2 to 3/4 cup of white wine
8-ounce bottle clam juice
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 teaspoon each of basil, oregano and thyme
2 pounds total of white fish, shrimp and/or scallops
(For topping)
1 cup sour cream
3 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions
1. Make the topping ahead of time starting with the sour cream in a mixing bowl and add the garlic, cayenne, lemon and salt and mix. More cayenne equals more kick. Cover and refrigerate to give the ingredients an opportunity to marry;
2. In large pot with oil heated over medium high heat, sautee the onion and pepper until limp;
3. Stir in garlic;
4. Add the tomatoes, white wine and clam juice;
5. Stir in bouillon cubes along with basil, oregano and thyme;
6. Simmer covered for 15 minutes;
7. Bring to boil and add fish, shrimp and/or scallops;
8. Simmer for 8 minutes;
9. Serve with crusty bread.

I used a pound of fish (cod) along with a half pound of pre-cooked shrimp and a half pound of scallops. I gave both the shrimp and scallops a quick frying pan searing in hot oil before they went into the stew.

Sesame Lamb Meatballs

By Paul Briand

My wife Jane and I went to a Greek festival recently at a nearby Greek Orthodox Church.

My primary motivation was the food, and I got my gyro while Jane got moussaka. What I didn't expect was that the little market of Greek food in the church hall included several recipes and I picked up this one for Sesame Lamb Meatballs.

It's one thing to go out for a taste of Greek food, it was quite another experience to return with a recipe for Greek food that we could prepare and eat at home.

Ingredients
1/3 cup minced onion
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Pinch of cinnamon
1 pound ground lamb
1 cup bread crumbs
1 large egg, beaten lightly
2 tablespoons raisins
1/2 cup of sesame seeds, toasted lightly

Directions
1. In a small skillet cook onion and garlic in olive oil over moderate heat until softened;
2. Transfer mixture to large mixing bowl and add oregano, salt and cinnamon;
3. Add lamb, bread crumbs, egg and raisins, combined well;
4. Roll mixture into individual 1 1/4 inch meatballs, arranging on a tray;
5. Roll each meatball in a small bowl of the sesame seeds until coated;
6. Transfer meatballs into a baking pan;
7. Cook in 450 degree preheated oven until done, about 10 minutes.

Given the dryness of the mixture, I was worried that the meatballs would come out of my oven and into my mouth and be a little dry, but there were two surprises: the raisins that added a nice level of moisture and sweetness and the sesame seeds that gave the meatballs an initial crunch.

Catfish Lettuce Wraps

By Paul Briand

I had the pleasure of preparing this meal with the help of my son David, who was just back from a two-month, 13,000 mile cross country road trip.

He can hold his own in the kitchen. Often during his college years and even during the road trip, he was the de facto cook, and he takes a lot of pleasure in it.

We tackled a Catfish Lettuce Wrap recipe that I found in the grocery store.

My wife and stepdaughter were a bit wary of the catfish. Knowing what a catfish looks like doesn't exactly instill a lot of confidence in the taste if you've never had it before. So David and I followed a suggestion in the recipe and soaked the fillets for about an hour in 2 cups of water with 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt to remove some of the so-called "natural, earthy" flavor from the fish.

Also, rather than keep the vegetable and bean ingredients separate, as given in the recipe, David made a slaw/salsa out of all of it, which was great both as a topping for the fish and as a separate side dish.

Ingredients
4 catfish fillets, about 6 ounces each
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 head iceberg lettuce or two heads Bibb lettuce (I had to substitute with Romaine lettuce)
2 cups cherry tomatoes, diced
1 can black beans, rinsed and dried
1 cup purple cabbage mix
1 ripe avocado, pitted, peeled and diced
2 limes, juiced
Salsa and sour cream, option
Red pepper flakes to taste
Cilantro to taste

Directions
1. Season the dried fillets with pepper, salt (always optional) and red pepper flakes (again optional);
2. Cook to flakiness on a grill or large frying pan coated with olive oil, spritz with lime;
3. In the meantime, combine the tomatoes, black beans, cabbage mix and avocado into mixing bowl and give a big stir, adding lime juice and cilantro, creating a hefty slaw;
4. Prepare lettuce by cleaning and drying six leaves;
5. Once the fish is done, transfer to a platter and break apart into chunks;
6. Put lettuce leaves on large platter, and fill each leaf with chunks of catfish, then add a heaping serving of the slaw mixture. Option, top with sour cream and/or salsa and serve.

There was enough going on in the mouth with all these flavors that even with some of the earthiness left in the catfish it was neither powerful enough to dominate nor was it overwhelmed by the toppings.

Korean Sesame Rib Marinade

By Paul Briand

My wife Jane and I had family over for dinner the other night and we served chicken kabobs with chicken and vegetables that had marinated in some store-bought marinade. Shame, shame, shame ... I know.

But during my shopping this week I found some lovely looking country-style pork ribs and promised myself a marinade that I'd make, and I found this one, although to be honest I'm not sure what is so Korean about it.

Asian, yes. Korean? I don't see anything in the ingredients that necessarily classify it as being particularly Korean. But that's how the recipe described itself so I'll have to respect that.

The key to a successful marinade is giving it time to work its magic. The marinade needs time to break down the meat (or chicken or fish or whatever) to start infusing it with the marinade's flavors, which in this case are the tang of some garlic and scallions, the sweetness of the brown sugar and some smokiness from the sherry.

The recipe I found called for regular sugar, but I substituted it for brown sugar. I just like it better in marinades and sauces.

Ingredients
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 scallions chopped
3 tablespoons sherry
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
2 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds

Directions
1. Mix the ingredients in an amply sized mixing bowl, reserving the sesame seeds for later;
2. Place your meat (in my case 2 pounds of the ribs, but whatever it is you want to marinade) into a gallon Ziploc bag;
3. Poor the marinade into the bag and carefully expel as much of the air as you can then seal the zip;
4. Work the marinade around the meat, and lay the bag into a large baking dish or whatever you have to contain a possible (but not likely leak). This is a piece of advice I picked up from Guy Fieri and his "Guy's Big Bite" show on the Food Channel;
http://www.foodnetwork.com/guys-big-bite/index.html
5. Let the marinade work for two hours minimum, longer if you can;
6. Extract the meat and cook as desired;
7. Sprinkle cooked meat with sesame seeds.

A lot of people will toss the marinade. I don't. I put it in a sauce pan, heat it through to a boil and use it as a side sauce.

Watermelon Salad

By Paul Briand

Several members of my very large family try to get together each year for Independence Day festivities in Maine.

My Mom lives in Wells, near Moody Beach, and each year we have a big throwdown of the usual barbecue suspects -- burgers, dogs, chips and a variety of side dishes, which this year included an orzo salad and a Thai cabbage salad.

I had fed everyone earlier in the weekend with two big pots of chili and used some of the leftovers for chili dogs.

But one pleasant side dish surprise was a watermelon salad from my sister, Ella, that is amazingly simple but amazingly good in its blend of seedless watermelon, feta cheese and fresh mint.

That's it. That's all there is to it.

Fresh mint is key. Fortunately for us, my mother has mint growing in a section of her flower garden.

Everything in this salad is proportional to how much watermelon you use and how much of the mint or the feta you want as a complement.

When we were loading ourselves down with hamburgers and chili dogs and everything else the watermelon salad was a cool, sweet/tangy aperitif.

Tuna Salad Mix-Ins

By Paul Briand

I love how this works. I make a honkin' tuna salad for lunch. Return to my study to do some more work. Tune into "Tyler's Ultimate" on the Food Channel at 3:30 and what is Tyler Florence making? The Tuna Everything Bagel.

I approach tuna salad for sandwiches the same way some people approach handcrafted ice cream -- the more taste you mix in the better.

I've always wanted to dress up my tuna. If I'm out and ordering a tuna sub, I always ask for pickles and tomatoes on it.

If I'm making it at home, I see no reason to alter my approach. What I do, however, is rather than layer the pickle or tomato or whatever on top of the tuna, I mix it right in.

Here's a recent example of my tuna mix-ins (see photo):

I started with a can of white tuna in water, water drained, tuna broken up in a mixing bowl. I added:
Ground black pepper;
Bread and butter pickle spear, chopped;
Sweet grape tomatoes, halved (sometimes quartered depending on their size);
Chopped green onion.

Into that I stirred in enough mayonnaise to get everything wet.

I put it on toasted oatmeal bread and topped it with some hot banana pepper rings.

Just for fun, here's Florence's tuna salad recipe from above:

Ingredients
3 cups good quality canned tuna (packed in water), drained
1/4 cup mayonnaise
4 cornichons, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves
2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley leaves
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1 lemon, juiced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, or to taste
2 everything bagels, sliced and toasted
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced crescents
1 vine-ripened tomato, sliced
1 seedless cucumber, sliced
4 Bibb lettuce leaves

Directions
1. Begin with the tuna salad. Combine ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper;
2. Take cut bagels and toast under a hot broiler until golden brown. While still hot smear the bottom with the cream cheese immediately;
3. Top with a scoop of the tuna salad and then layer with red onion, tomato, cucumber and lettuce. Add the top half of the bagel and serve.

Grilled Stuffed Portobellos

By Paul Briand

A favorite present from this Christmas past was a new set of grilling tools and Bobby Flay's "Grill It!" recipe book from my children.

Now that it's more like grilling weather here in northern New England I've broken out both the tools and the cookbook, and it's a sure thing you'll be seeing some of the "Grill It!" recipes here.

Flay is a fan favorite on the Food Channel. I especially like his throw-downs -- when puts his recipe up against the recipe of a local crowd favorite somewhere in the country. I wrote about a meatloaf throw-down back in August 2008.

I treated this adapted recipe of Portobello mushrooms, sweet Italian sausage, spinach, mozzarella cheese and tomatoes as a meal. And with a side dish of zucchini and squash that I also grilled, it was quite the pleasing medley.

Ingredients
6 tablespoons olive oil
12 ounces sweet Italian sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon chile flakes (Note: Flay likes heat in most all his dishes. This is optional for those who don't like heat.)
1/2 cup dry red wine
8 ounces fresh spinach, stems removed, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
12 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes
4 large Portobello mushrooms, stems removed
2 tomatoes, sliced

Directions
1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a medium pan over high heat and cook the sausage, breaking it up into small pieces;
2. As the sausage starts to lose its pink add the chopped onion, pepper flakes (if you choose to use them) and garlic;
3. As the onion starts to become translucent, add the wine and simmer until completely evaporated;
4. Add the spinach and a half a cup of water, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the spinach is wilted and the water evaporates;
5. Stir in four cubes of mozzarella (which will help act as a binder), plus the basil and parsley;
6. Once the cheese melts throughout, remove from heat and set aside;
7. Brush mushroom caps on both sides with olive oil and place on heated grill, cooking both sides until brown;
8. Remove mushroom caps from grill and, cap side down, fill each mushroom with sausage mixture, top with mozzarella cubes and tomato;
9. Return mushrooms to the grill, close the cover and cook until cheese has melted and tomatoes are soft, about five minutes.

Roquamole

By Paul Briand

When I make guacamole, it's a pretty simple concoction: Avocado, garlic, dash of Tabasco, smidgen of mayonnaise and a spritz of lemon juice.

By way of Relish magazine, courtesy of my wife Jane, I found a twist on guacamole that combines the richness of avocado with the sharpness of Roquefort cheese (blue cheese) and the tang of sour cream.

Relish magazine says this recipe for Roquamole is adapted from "Nigella Express," by British food writer Nigella Lawson.

Ingredients
1 cup crumbled Roquefort or blue cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
2 ripe avocados
1/4 cup sliced pickled jalapeno peppers (eliminate if your not into the heat)
2 green onions, finely sliced
1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Directions
1. In medium size bowl, prepare avocado as you would for guacamole;
2. Crumble in the cheese;
3. Add the sour cream and stir mixture together;
4. Roughly chop the jalapeno, add to mixture with green onions and lime juice, and stir;
5. Serve with blue corn tortilla chips.

Crab and Chutney Rangoons

By Paul Briand

I subscribe to a number of email feeds about food. No surprise there, really. One is particular, Taste of the Seacoast, gives me valuable insights into the food-related happenings in the Seacoast area of New Hampshire where I live.

One happy surprise in the May online newsletter was a recipe for Crab Rangoons, always a favorite for me and wife Jane when we're out for Asian food. The fact that she's a Maryland girl who loves her crab also plays into the love of Crab Rangoons.

The recipe, drawn from chief Ming Tsai (featured on the "Simply Ming" cooking show on PBS) looked simple enough for me to try at home. Originally the recipe called for Sour Cranberry Chutney, which I substituted with Major Grey's Chutney.

Ingredients
1 pound crab meat
1?4 pound cream cheese, softened
1 cup Major Grey's Chutney, plus some for garnish
3 tablespoons chopped chives, save 1 tablespoon for garnish
1 package thin square wonton skins
1 egg mixed with 2 tablespoons water
Canola oil for cooking
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to tast

Directions
1. In a large bowl, mix the crab, cream cheese, chutney, and chives. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and check for flavor;
2. Lay out 4 to 6 skins, lightly brush the edges with egg wash and place a small mound of the mix in the middle. Top with second skin and press firmly to seal. This is very important so the rangoons do not burst and leak. Repeat until the filling is gone;
3. Preheat a large sauté pan coated with 1?4-inch of oil over medium-high heat. Add as many rangoons as the pan can hold in one layer. Shallow fry until golden brown, flip and fry other side until golden brown;
4. Transfer rangoons to a plate lined with paper towels;
5. Place a small mound of chutney on a plate, surround with 3 rangoons, garnish with chives and serve hot.

Enchilada Bake

By Paul Briand

My favorite food group is salsa and chips.

I'm finding, however, that I should learn to live with fewer chips in my diet. But I'm loath to give up on salsa. What to do? Find recipes that incorporate salsa into the meal.

I've already offered in this space a recipe for Easy Chili that incorporates salsa.

But I don't want to be a one-hit wonder. So I found a good source of salsa recipes here from the makers of the Spike's salsas I often buy at my local supermarket.

This is the Enchilada Bake, picture courtesy of the web site. (It goes without saying that if you have a favorite salsa in can easily substitute for the Spike's.)

Ingredients
Half cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
8 ounce package of shredded cheddar cheese
Half cup milk
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
Half cup black olives, sliced
8 flour tortillas (6 inch)
1 jar Spike’s Santa Fe Medium Salsa
Green onion, sliced for garnish
Oil

Directions
1. Melt butter in large saucepan and add onion, heat until onion is tender, or begins to turn translucent;
2. Reduce heat to low. Add cheese and milk to onion mixture, stir;
3. Add cooked chicken and olives; mix well;
4. Remove from heat and set aside;
5. Add enough oil to a large skillet to 1/4" depth and heat to medium high;
6. Add tortillas one at a time and cook until softened, turning once;
7. Remove and drain on paper towels;
8. Place 1/4 cup of the chicken cheese mixture down the center of each tortilla and roll up;
9. Place seam-side down in a 12-by-8 inch baking dish. Top with salsa;
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, top with remaining cheese and more olives if desired;
11. Sprinkle with green onion and serve.

Skillet Lasagna

By Paul Briand

In keeping with last week's theme, I was looking again at leftover ingredients that I should try to use up. Last week it was horseradish; this week's it was lasagna noodles.

The noodles were leftover from the Unbelievable Lasagna recipe posted March 18.

And I just happened upon a recipe for this Skillet Lasagna in my Shaw's supermarket. It is much more simple than the oven-baked lasagna -- it takes less than an hour from start to finish -- and it's equally as tasty.

Ingredients
28-ounce can of diced tomatoes
Tablespoon of olive oil
Medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound of ground beef
10 lasagna noodles, broken into two-inch strips
8-ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Black pepper, salt
1 cup Ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons chopped basil

Directions
1. Pour tomatoes with their juices into 1-quart measuring cup, add water so that mixture equals 1 quart (I used equal parts water and red wine for this);
2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat and cook onion until it begins to brown;
3. Add salt, pepper flakes and garlic;
4. Add ground beef, break apart and cook through until no longer pink, distribute evenly over bottom of skillet;
5. Add the lasagna noodle strips over the meat, but do not stir;
6. Pour diced tomatoes, juices and water, plus the tomato sauce over pasta. Do not stir. Cover and bring to simmer;
7. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stir occasionally until pasta is tender, about 20 minutes;
8. Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of Parmesan;
9. Season with salt and pepper;
10. Dot with dollops of Ricotta, cover and let stand for five minutes;
11. Sprinkle with basil and remaining two tablespoons of Parmesan.

Serves four to six.

Cajun Shrimp and Crab Scampi

By Paul Briand

Last week I bought horseradish as part of a Bloody Mary Burgers recipe. Which begged the question: Now what do I do with the horseradish?

I could drink Bloody Mary cocktails on a regular basis. I could make more Bloody Mary Burgers.

But in an effort to expand my culinary use of horseradish I went to the horseradish experts at Horseradish.org.

I'm impressed by how much is on the web site for appetizers, side dishes, main dishes and evens kids' dishes that use horseradish. I settled on this recipe for Cajun Shrimp and Crab Scampi.

Ingredients
1¼ pounds shrimp
½ pound crabmeat, flakes (imitation works fine)
4 tablespoons margarine
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
½ cup white wine
1½ teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon minced garlic and thyme
½ teaspoon black, white and red pepper
4 cups cooked rice
1 cup diced green onions

Directions
1. In large saucepan over medium heat, combine and simmer margarine, horseradish, wine and remaining spices
2. Add shrimp and crabmeat and cook until shrimp is bright pink;
3. Remove from heat, add green onions and mix well. Serve over rice.

Bloody Mary Burgers

By Paul Briand

This week's recipe comes courtesy of my son David. I went to bed not knowing what this week's featured recipe would be, then woke up to an email from David that guided me to the Bloody Mary Burgers.

He actually wrote to suggest I start posting some of my recipes on Tastespotting.com. It's a great suggestion and I will post some future recipes there. But my problem this week was that all my creative energies had been devoted in other areas outside the kitchen, so I had no recipes to create, so I went to Tastespotting instead in search of a fun recipe and happened upon this burger recipe that is accompanied by a Cucumber and Avocado Salsa.

I was amused by the Bloody Mary Burger name, derived from some of the ingredients found in a Bloody Mary cocktail -- Tabasco, Worcestershire, horseradish, celery. No tomato juice, but there is ketchup. No vodka, but I suppose a creative chef out there could find a way to make it work.

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon Tabasco
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons horseradish
1/2 small yellow onion, minced
1 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Directions
1. Mix all ingredients together in large bowl;
2. Make four patties and grill until desired doneness.

Serve and top with Cucumber and Avocado Salsa as follows:

Ingredients
1 cucumber, sliced in half, seeds scooped out and large dice
1 diced ripe avocado
2 scallions sliced
Dressing:
Zest and juice of a lime
Splash of red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
Handful of chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Whisk dressing ingredients together and stir in to the cucumber, avocado and scallion mixture;
2. Allow to chill in refrigerator to let everything marry and serve on the burgers.

Ham and Potato Casserole

By Paul Briand

Apparently I wasn't alone on Monday, wondering what I was going to do with the leftover Easter ham in the refrigerator.

"Leftover ham recipes" was one of the biggest search inquiries on the web on Monday.

In a bow to a recent visit to Alabama, where everything we ate seemed to have some kind of pork associated with it, I concentrated my own search to the Southern Food section of About.com and came with this recipe for Ham and Potato Casserole.

Ingredients
1 1/2 to 2 pounds potatoes, thinly sliced, about 4 to 5 cups
2 cups diced ham
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/4 cup finely chopped red or green bell pepper
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups half-and-half or 1 cup milk and 1 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon dried mustard
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley or 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
salt, to taste
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, optional

Directions
1. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Heat oven to 325 degrees;
2. In a large saucepan, melt butter; add onion and celery and sauté until tender;
3. Add bell pepper and sauté for one minute longer;
4. Stir in flour until smooth;
5. Gradually add half-and-half, stirring constantly;
6. Add seasonings and salt to taste;
7. Continue cooking, stirring, until thickened;
8. Add sliced potatoes and diced ham and stir to combine;
9. Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish;
10. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes;
11. Remove foil and bake for about 10 minutes longer, or until potatoes are tender;
12. If desired, sprinkle shredded cheese over the top of the casserole and bake for a few minutes longer, or until cheese is melted.

Serves 4 to 6.

Stuffed Red Peppers

By Paul Briand

My wife and I spent part of last week in Alabama. She was on business; I was tagging along for the ride ... and for golf.

We spent some time in Birmingham and made a point of doing two things: 1) Seeing the civil rights sites in what was once known as the most segregated city in the country and 2) sampling the local cuisine.

Both were eye-opening. On the cuisine side, we had barbecue at Mrs. B's on Fourth, just down the street from the Civil Rights Institute, and it was certainly one of the highlights of our gastronomic tour of the south.

But it's always nice to come back to home cooking. The challenge was to tone it down a bit, but not so much as to be a total bore. So I made these Stuffed Red Peppers our first night back.

Ingredients
4 red peppers
1 pound of ground hamburger
Brown rice
4 cloves garlic
4 shallots
1 green pepper
Olive oil
8 ounces tomato sauce
Parsley, oregano, basil
Shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees;
2. Prepare enough brown rice for two people, following directions on the package;
3. Halve and clean the red pepper and blanch them, set aside;
4. Mince the garlic, slice the shallots and dice the green pepper;
5. Add the vegetables to a medium hot skillet with olive oil and saute until just tender;
6. Add the hamburger and cook until no longer pink;
7. Turn the heat down on the mixture and add the cooked rice and tomato sauce;
8. Stir in the parsley, oregano and basil to taste;
9. Heat through until bubbly and remove from burner;
10. Spoon generous portions of the mixture into and onto the red pepper halves;
11. Top with generous amount of shredded cheese (Parmesan is an option here too);
12. Heat in oven until the cheese is melted and starting to bubble.

Shrimp and Bacon on Polenta

By Paul Briand

This recipe grew from a desire to use up some leftover polenta and the serendipity of finding a shrimp, bacon and polenta recipe while trolling through an Associated Press feed on my BlackBerry.

We had about a half pound of leftover polenta in the refrigerator, and I hated just seeing it sit there and I hated the idea of tossing it. The AP recipe calls for you to make a batch of instant polenta, jazzing it up a bit with milk instead of water and shallots and Parmesan cheese.

What I had in the fridge was about a half a pound of the rolled, prepared polenta that you can slice to fry or grill. I crumbled it up and cooked it in a wok in the bacon fat, which flavored up the otherwise bland polenta.

Also, because it's easy, I use frozen cooked shrimp, the biggest I can find at the store, a 16 count in a 1 pound bag. Thaw the shrimp by placing them in a large bowl of water.

Ingredients
1/2 pound of prepared polenta
1 pound of shrimp
1/2 pound bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 cloves minced
1 shallot, chopped
1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 ounces Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. In a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until it's crispy;
2. Add the pepper, shallot and garlic;
3. After about three minutes add the shrimp and cook until pieces are heated through and pepper is tender;
4. Using slotted spoon remove mixture from wok and set aside; drain about half of bacon fat and return wok to heat;
5. Crumble polenta into wok and work it around to heat through and absorb bacon drippings;
6. Return shrimp and bacon mixture to wok;
7. Top with Parmesan cheese;
8. Heat through and serve.

Chicken Marsala (for a crowd)

By Paul Briand

I had the task over the weekend to cook dinner for my stepdaughter's birthday. Not a big deal, normally, except that I was cooking for upwards of 12 people or more, depending on who exactly was coming.

What I needed was something that tasted great and could feed a crowd, and that could be cooked ahead of time, refrigerated over night and transported to the dinner party for re-heating and serving the next evening.

I'd done small batches of Chicken Marsala for four that I normally serve with a side of rice. But I needed this particular dish to be all inclusive, almost like a casserole, so I decided to marry sliced potatoes with the chicken and Marsala wine mushroom sauce together in two batches for two large baking dishes.

Ingredients
8 pound bag of potatoes
6 pounds of chicken (boneless thighs and breasts)
4 cups sliced mushrooms
Bottle of Marsala wine
Flour for dredging
Olive oil
Pepper
Garlic powder, oregano, basil

Directions
1. Clean potatoes and, leaving skin on, cut in 1/4-inch piece, enough to line two 3-4 quart baking dishes;
2. Season potatoes with pepper and drizzle with olive oil;
3. Place potatoes into oven pre-heated at 400 degrees and cook until about 3/4 of the way done;
4. As potatoes are cooking, cut the chicken thighs and breasts into bite size pieces;
(Note: With so much chicken you'll probably have to do the next steps two times for each batch of chicken and mushrooms).)
5. Create a flour dredge (I use a produce bag from the market or a large freezer-sized Ziploc bag) added with garlic powder and oregano;
6. Make sure each piece is covered with flour and add into large frying pan at medium high with about a quarter inch of olive oil;
7. Brown the chicken on all sides, but don't cook all the way through. Leave a little pink and remove from pan and set aside;
8. Add mushrooms then enough Marsala (about half the bottle for each batch) to deglaze the pan and create a thickening mushroom sauce;
9. Add chicken to the top of the potato layer, spreading pieces evenly in the baking dish
10. Spring enough basil over mixture to evenly cover;
11. Add the mushroom sauce over the chicken spreading as evenly in the baking dish as possible;
12. Return to oven and cook until potatoes are soft and chicken is cooked through and serve.

All in all, it worked very well. I underestimated, however, how much time it would take to re-heat the two large pans of Chicken Marsala once we got to the party. I figured about 50 minutes at 400 degrees. It easily could have taken 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to the right serving temperature.

Chicken Cacciatore

By Paul Briand

I like the fact that my local supermarket -- a Shaw's -- has a display of easy recipes right as I walk into the store.

Sometimes, I just don't have my head in the right place beforehand to have figured out the week's menu. These recipes offer instant inspiration, and all-in-all they're very good and each recipe comes with a nutrition summary.

Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped fine
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, quartered
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Directions
1. Rinse and pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper;
2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat and cook chicken until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plate;
3. Add onion, pepper and mushrooms to skillet and cook until lightly brown;
4. Stir in garlic and cook about 30 seconds;
5. Add tomatoes, wine and browned chicken (along with any accumulated juices from the plate) and bring to boil;
6. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until chicken is cooked through, 2 to 4 minutes;
7. Transfer chicken to serving platter and tent with foil;
8. Simmer sauce, uncovered, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes;
9. Remove skillet from heat, stir in basil and season with salt and pepper;
10. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

The recipe takes pains to note that browning the chicken is key, on two counts: It puts a crust on the chicken and it creates the fond in the pan that provides the flavor base for the wine and tomato sauce. The recipe recommends this can be served with rice, pasta or polenta.

Tuna Salad

By Paul Briand

My original intent for today was to post a recipe for Beer Batter Chicken. I prepped, I cooked, I took a picture, I ate. And I didn't like it very much. So it's back to the cutting board on that one.

So here's one for Tuna Salad, devised for lunch the other day as I was thinking about a way to jazz up the typical tuna/mayo combination. I also wanted to stay away from serving the tuna on bread since I was making cheeseburgers (on buns) for dinner later. Shouldn't have too much bread in one day, or so my expanding waist tells me.

Ingredients
One 5 ounce can of solid white tuna
Heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise
Teaspoon of Dijon mustard
Tablespoon of sweet pepper relish
Bread and Butter pickle spear
Black pepper
Garlic powder
Two ripe medium size tomatoes

Directions
1. Drain water from canned tuna and break tuna up in large mixing bowl;
2. Add mayonnaise, mustard, and relish;
3. Dice pickle spear and add to bowl;
4. Add pepper and garlic powder to taste and mix all ingredients together;
5. Cut the top off the tomatoes, going in at a steep angle, then slice each tomato to create wedges but don't cut through to the bottom;
6. Top each tomato with the tuna mixture. The tomato will open up but should hold together.

I'm a big fan of tomato and pickles in my tuna. It's a required addition to any tuna salad I make or order at a sub shop.

The best tuna salad I ever had was in the U.S. Capitol dining room with the late U.S. Rep. Nicholas Mavroules of Massachusetts in the early 1980s. It was served in a whole tomato like I'm suggesting here. I don't recall what it was that made it so great, but I have a distinct memory that it remains the best tuna salad I've ever eaten.