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Chicken with Pancetta, Mushrooms & White Wine Sauce

Chicken thighs, mushrooms, and pancetta create quite the comforting dish when slow cooked in a creamy white wine sauce. Serve with mashed potatoes and crusty bread for a rustic, satisfying supper

Ingredients:

·       3 tablespoons unsalted butter

·       1 tablespoon olive oil

·       12 skinless boneless chicken thighs

·       Kosher salt & black pepper

·       6 oz pancetta, finely chopped

·       2 to 3 shallots, finely chopped

·       6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

·       1-pound fresh chef’s blend of mushrooms, trimmed and chopped

·       2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

·       1 cup dry white wine (we used Chardonnay)

·       1½ cups chicken stock

·       ¼ cup sherry

·       1 cup heavy cream

·       Slurry – 1 tablespoon corn starch with 2 tablespoons chicken stock

·       1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Directions:

1.       In a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter and add oil. Season the chicken with salt & pepper; place topside down and cook until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Turn chicken over and cook about 1 minute more. Remove chicken with tongs and set aside.

2.       To the same pan over medium heat, add pancetta; cook until fat has rendered, and pancetta is crisp.  Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.           

3.       To the same pan, over medium-high heat, add shallots and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms have softened and released most of their liquid, about 5-7 minutes. Season mixture with salt & pepper; stir in thyme (additional salt may not be needed). Add wine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, cook about 5 minutes. Add chicken stock, sherry and slurry.  Bring mixture to a simmer, add pancetta and return chicken thighs to pan, topside up. Simmer over medium-low heat until chicken thighs are cooked through, 165 degrees, and sauce has reduced, about 15-25 minutes.  

4.       Stir in cream. Season to taste, if needed. Continue to cook until sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Garnish with chopped parsley.


Click here for PDF of Recipe

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Prime Rib Roast

“Low and Slow” is key to the perfect Prime Rib roast.  First start by salting the roast and letting it dry age uncovered in the refrigerator for at least a full 24 hours or up to 4 days.  The longer the roast can dry age this way the better.  The salt enhances the beefy flavor while dissolving some of the proteins, yielding a buttery-tender roast.  We like to serve this roast with our horseradish cream sauce (see website for recipe).

Yield:  6 to 8 servings

Ingredients: 

  • 1 (7 lb.) Prime rib roast, bone in with roast cut from the bones and reserved
  • 2 tablespoons Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons vegetable oil (enough to coat the skillet for searing)
  • Butchers twine
  • Flake salt to finish

Directions:

  1. If the butcher has not already cut the bones from the roast, use a sharp knife and run it down the length of the bones, following the contours as closely as possible until the meat is separated. 
  2. Using a sharp knife cut a one inch crosshatch pattern in the fat cap of the roast.  Rub the Kosher over the entire roast and into the slits.  Loosely place the meat back on the bones, transferring to a large plate or a rimmed backing sheet with a rack and placing into refrigerator uncovered for at least 1 day or up to 4 days.
  3. Remove meat from refrigerator 1 hour prior to preparing for the oven, allowing the meat to come to room temperature.
  4. Preheat oven to 170° (This is typically the lowest setting for most ovens)
  5. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat until just smoking.  Sear sides and top of roast but not the portion that will rest on the bones as you want to flavor from the bones to come through to the meat.  Place the meat back on the ribs/bones and let cool, approximately 10 minutes.  Once cool enough to handle, tie the meat to the bones between the ribs. Transfer roast, fat side up, to a wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet and season with fresh ground pepper. 
  6. Place roast in oven and roast until internal temperature reaches 120°, approximately 3 to 4 hours.
  7. Turn oven off; leaving the roast in the oven with the door closed until the internal temperature reaches desired doneness: rare 125°; medium-rare 135°; medium 145°, approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour.
  8. Remove from oven (leaving on the rack) and tent loosely with aluminum foil and let rest for a good hour.
  9. Prior to serving, turn broiler to high.  Remove foil from roast and form a ball with the foil and place under the bones to elevate the fat cap.  Place approximately 8 inches from the broiler element and broil until top of roast is well browned and crisp, approximately 5 minutes.
  10. Transfer to carving board; cut twine and remove roast from ribs.  Slice meat into ¾ inch thick slices.  Season with flake salt to taste, and serve. 
Prime-Rib-Roast1833Download

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Braised Short Ribs Sous Vide

YIELD:  4 Servings

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Short ribs are a cut of beef made up of short sections of rib bone, along with meat.  These succulent little ribbies combine characteristics of chuck and rib.  They have rich marbling with deep flavor.  Pre-searing the ribs helps to develop flavor and to prevent overcooking.  We suggest serving with polenta, couscous, or riced cauliflower.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 large sweet onion, finely diced
  • 3 stalks celery, finely diced
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and grated
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
  • 1 beef rib cut into four portions
  • Kosher salt & ground pepper
  • Olive oil as needed
  • 1.5 oz tomato paste
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 1.5 oz veal demi-glace
  • Pinch of chili flakes

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Set the Sous Vide to 167 degrees
  2. Season the ribs with salt and pepper on all sides
  3. Heat skillet to medium high, allow the pan to get hot and sear ribs on all sides ( 2 minutes on each side)
  4. Remove ribs and set aside
  5. Reduce heat to medium and add onion, celery, and carrot to the pan ( you may need to add a little additional oil) and cook until tender
  6. Add garlic and tomato paste and incorporate
  7. Add wine to deglaze
  8. Add demi-glace, and chili flakes
  9. Reduce heat to low and simmer to reduce to a thick glaze
  10. Set aside to cool
  11. Once the ribs and glaze have cooled cover each rib with the glaze
  12. Place in cooking bag and vacuum seal
  13. Add sealed bag to heated water and ensure completely submerged.  Cook for 24 hours ( for long cook times like this it is important to cover pot to reduce evaporation)

Enjoy!  

Braised-Short-Ribs-Sous-VideDownload
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Chicken Thighs with Artichokes and Lemon – Gluten Free!!

If you the like flavor combination of artichoke and lemon this easy chicken thigh recipe is for you.  It is best enjoyed over rice. Or if not gluten intolerant pasta!

Yield – 3 servings

INGREDIENTS:

  • 6 skinless boneless chicken thighs ( If desired you can use bone in and or with skin on)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium sweet onion chopped
  • ½ teaspoon saffron (more if you like)
  • 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, diced
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 lemon, zest and juiced
  • 1 ½ cups chicken stock
  • 1 package of frozen artichokes quartered
  • Kosher Salt and Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Pat chicken dry and season chicken with salt and pepper
  2. In a large skillet warm the olive oil over a medium high heat.  Add chicken and cook the first side for 6 minutes to brown.  Flip and brown the other side for 5 minutes.  Transfer chicken to a plate.
  3. Reduce heat to medium and add chopped onion to the pan.  Add salt to sweat the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes
  4. Add saffron, parsley and garlic and cook for one minutes
  5. Add cinnamon, stirring to combine
  6. Add chicken stock and lemon zest to the pan to deglaze
  7. Return chicken to the pan (if using chicken with skin place the chicken skin side up) and nestle the artichokes between chicken thighs. 
  8. Add lemon juice
  9. Cover and simmer on a medium low heat for 20 minutes to cook the chicken through.
  10. Serve over rice, placing chicken on top and spooning the sauce

Click here to download the printable version of this recipe:

Chicken Thighs with Artichokes and LemonDownload

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Gluten Free Chicken Marsala for Two

YIELD:  2 Servings

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

This is a very easy, but delicious dish, and it takes less than 30 minutes to prepare.  I like to serve it with pasta, rice, or potato.  I use Santini Dry Marsala Wine, which is imported from Italy and a bottle costs less than ten dollars.  It’s great to have on hand for a quick dinner.  I make this dish with butter, as I prefer the flavor.  Normally I would use oil for a higher heat point, however, the butter works in this recipe as the chicken is at room temperature and pounded out.  You can substitute olive oil or half of each if you like.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup of dry Marsala wine
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 2 breasts of chicken, pounded out to half to three quarter inch (room temperature)
  • 3 OZ Cremini (baby bella) mushrooms, discard stem and slice
  • 3 OZ Maitake (hen of the woods) mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 T cornstarch
  • 4 T Butter
  • Salt and black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Pound out chicken and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper
  2. Combine a small amount of chicken stock and the cornstarch to make a slurry and set aside
  3. Melt two tablespoons of butter in a skillet at medium heat
  4. Add chicken when the butter starts to bubble
  5. Cook the chicken until firm, 145 degrees and transfer to a dish
  6. Add an additional two tablespoons of butter to the skillet and add mushrooms
  7. Cook mushrooms until they are golden brown
  8. Add garlic and allow to cook for 30 seconds, allowing the garlic to bloom
  9. Add chicken stock to deglaze the pan
  10. Stir in slurry
  11. Slowly add Marcella wine, stirring to incorporate
  12. Reduce sauce to half and turn off burner
  13. Return chicken to the skillet and spoon the mushroom/wine mixture to coat.  Only allow the chicken to warm, as the chicken is already cooked

Enjoy!

Click here to download the printable version of this recipe:

Gluten-Free-Chicken-Marsala-for-TwoDownload
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Red Curry with Vegetables and Lentils

We bring you a great recipe for red curry with vegetables and lentils, mostly if you are trying to eat a healthy plant based diet!!!

YIELD:  4 – 6 Servings

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

This recipe is an inspiration from my dear friend Pratibha, who make amazing Indian food.  Since this is my first attempt of making a red curry I did some research to find if you brown the vegetables first it deepens the flavor.  I used dried Ancho Chile peppers, which I purchased at a small Hispanic grocery store, as in the regular grocery store they are hard ( the peppers should be somewhat soft).  I feel it will turn out good if you would like to use fresh peppers as well.  I served it over Basmati rice. 

INGREDIENTS:

  •  4 T Olive Oil
  • 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into one inch cubes
  • Cauliflower, one inch flowerets, about the same amount as the potato
  • Broccoli,  one inch flowerets, about the same amount as the potato
  • 1 medium sweet onion, rough chopped
  • 3 to 4 T red curry paste
  • 3 clove garlic, chopped
  • 1 T fresh ginger, grated
  • 2 Ancho Chile peppers, remove seeds and chop
  • 1 t ground turmeric
  • 1 cup red lentils, rinsed
  • 1 32 Oz carton vegetable stock
  • 2 t kosher salt, or to taste
  • 1 13 Oz can coconut milk
  • 13 Oz bag of fresh baby spinach
  • Juice of one lime, optional
  • Fresh chopped cilantro, optional
  • Toasted unsweetened coconut flakes, optional

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. In a Dutch oven heat three tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat sauté potato, cauliflower, and broccoli until brown, about 7 to 10 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl.
  2. Reduce heat to medium low and add remaining olive oil.  Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add curry, garlic, ginger, peppers and turmeric and cook just until fragrant, about 1 minute
  3. Add stock, lentils, salt and vegetables.  Raise heat and bring to boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 25 minutes.  The lentils will be slightly tender. 
  4. Add coconut milk and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid reduces and the lentils become creamy and are starting to fall apart, about 20 minutes
  5. Add spinach, stirring to wilt, about 3 minutes.  Adjust salt if needed.  Remove from heat and add lime juice
  6. Serve over rice, topping with cilantro and coconut
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Super easy Gluten Free Shrimp Scampi

If you love Shrimp Scampi, you must try this recipe. It’s super easy to make and takes very little time from start to finish! Serve this dish up to your family or guest and they will think you’re a professional chef!

What makes it Gluten Free? Simple, we use no flour to thicken the sauce and we serve it on Gluten Free pasta! Our choice is Barilla but there are many options available.

In this short instructional video, Dave demonstrates just how easy this dish is to make!

We hope you enjoy!!!

Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined – tails left on
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Olive oil
  • 1 small onion, sliced thinly
  • (optional) red pepper flakes for heat
  • 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • ½ cup white wine
  • ½ cup shrimp stock
  • 2 tablespoons cold butter
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
  • Lemon slices, for garnish
  • ¼ to ½ Cups Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese to taste
  • Spaghetti pasta, as an accompaniment. We prefer Barilla Gluten Free!

Directions:

  1. Season the shrimp thoroughly with salt and pepper.
  2. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add enough oil to lightly coat the pan. Add the shrimp and quickly sauté until just starting to turn pink, but not cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  3. Add the onions and sauté just until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes.
  4. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds. If adding red pepper flakes, add them at this time as well.
  5. Add the lemon juice, white wine, and stock, and reduce by 2/3, about 5 minutes.
  6. Add the shrimp back to the pan and swirl in the butter. Check for seasoning and adjust as necessary.
  7. Serve over al dente pasta. Note: If using Gluten Free pasta, be certain to keep stirring the pasta while boiling to ensure it doesn’t clump and stick together. After you drain the pasta water, we also find it best if you toss the pasta with a little olive oil to also prevent sticking.
  8. After plated, sprinkle with fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and the fresh parsley. Garnish the plate with lemon slices and serve!

Shrimp Scampi Plated

Love this recipe? Follow us and share it with your friends! Let us know how it came out and send us some pictures! Questions? Ask The Dads in the comments or e-mail: HarrisandDave@gmail.com

Enjoy!!!

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True to Harris’ Italian roots ~ Cioppino, Italian Seafood Stew!

Add this amazing recipe to your repertoire and impress your friends; great for a dinner party!!!

This is very similar to the French version, bouillabaisse, only this doesn’t have saffron and the base is tomato. Staying true to Harris’ Italian roots was his goal when creating this dish.

The star ingredient is the calamari!  If you’ve not cooked calamari before now, don’t be afraid.  Most fear cooking calamari any way other than breaded and deep-fried but fear not.  You will be surprised how tender and flavorful it is in this dish.  If you watch our video, you will also see how much liquid is released from the calamari as it simmers.  While I do believe in substitutions, we strongly recommend not replacing the star ingredient; you’re going to love it!!!

We recommend serving with garlic rubbed crostinis or a rustic bread as you’ll definitely want something to soak up the delicious broth while eating the shell fish!

Enjoy!!!

(Sorry, there wasn’t a photo of this dish once plated.  with everyone sitting at the table waiting to be served we got distracted!!)

Here in the video, Harris demonstrates how to cook our very special Cioppino! See below for the recipe!

Cioppino

  (Tomato based Seafood Stew)

This recipe will serve 8 or possibly 10

 Ingredients:

  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 1 large fennel bulb – chopped fine
  • 1 large white onion – chopped fine
  • 3 ribs celery – chopped fine
  • 1 ½ tablespoon dried oregano
  • ¼ or ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 ½ pound fresh squid, tentacles cut in thirds, bodies cut into ½ inch rings
  • 2 cups dry white wine
  • 1 26 ounce carton (Pomi) fresh tomato, strained
  • 2 lemons (zest only) – 1 peeled in strips and 1 finely grated
  • 2 ½ cups water
  • 2 bottles clam juice (2 cups)
  • 2 lbs. fresh mussels
  • 2 lbs. Cherry Stone clams
  • 1 lb. Rock fish, skinned and cut into 2 inch pieces
  • 1 lb. large shrimp, peeled & deveined
  • 2 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • Kosher Salt and Pepper to taste

The dish requires a very large Dutch oven or clam pot.

Place fresh clams and mussels in a large bowl of very cold water with ice to flush out any sand in the shells.  Before adding clams and mussels inspect to be certain all are tightly closed.  If any of the shells are open or cracked, discard, as they are dead and not edible.  Also trim beard of mussels if needed.

 Directions:

  1. Place Dutch oven over medium heat and add the olive oil. When oil is hot, add the fennel, onion, celery, oregano, and red pepper flakes.  Season with Kosher salt to sweat the onions.  Cook until translucent, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  2. Reduce heat to medium-low and add squid. Cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  The squid will release their juices, which is amazing and will become very tender.
  3. Raise heat to medium-high and add white wine. Cook until reduced, about 20 minutes.
  4. Reduced heat to low and add tomato and lemon strips and cook until very thick, about 45 minutes. Remove lemon strips, add salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Raise heat to medium-high, add water and clam juice and bring to boil. Add clams, mussels, and shrimp, cover and cook until most of the shells have opened, about 5 minutes.  Add rock fish and cook another 2 minutes until the fish is opaque.
  6. In a small bowl, combine chopped parsley and grated lemon to make Gremolata.
  7. Serve in individual large bowls, placing seafood in the bottom of bowl, ladling over the seafood the broth. Sprinkle with the gremolata and serve.

Knock your socks off Amazing Italian Seafood Stew!
Knock your socks off Amazing Italian Seafood Stew!

Love this recipe? Follow us and share it with your friends! Let us know how it came out and send us some pictures! Questions? Ask The Dads in the comments or e-mail: HarrisandDave@gmail.com

Enjoy!!!

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Garlic Rosemary Chicken for a perfect Sunday Dinner

Father’s Day is this Sunday and what better way to show Dad you care than by preparing a family dinner with a traditional Roasted Chicken with a twist. Our Garlic Rosemary Chicken, lovingly stuffed with rosemary and 15 cloves of garlic, is major flavor!  It would be heaven with some roasted vegetables and a simple salad. In fact, check out our recipes for sides and dressing!

When our children were growing up, we always insisted that everyone gather around the table for dinner. With teenagers who were busy and sometimes temperamental, this was not the easiest of tasks some days, but we believed it was important to share our meals as a family. These days, our children have grown and left the house, so family meals are precious. This Father’s Day, we will be celebrating by visiting Leah and Sean at their home for dinner. And who knows, maybe Leah will serve us up our own recipes!

So don’t forget to thank the Dads in your life for all of their hard work, and let them know that you love them this Sunday. And serve up some Garlic Rosemary Chicken, because It isn’t always easy being a Dad. And maybe some pie? Because, us Dads, we’re worth it!

Here in the video, Dave demonstrates how to cook our very special Garlic Rosemary Chicken! See below for the recipe!

Ingredients:

  • ¼ Cup Olive Oil
  • 15 cloves of Garlic
  • 1 tablespoon rosemary leaves, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon Kosher Salt
  • 1 Teaspoon Black pepper
  • 1 four pound Chicken
  • 3 Cups Chicken stock
  • 3 TBS fresh Lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a food processor, combine the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, kosher salt and black pepper.  Process to the consistence of a pesto/paste.  Rub the garlic mixture under and over the skin of the chicken and in the cavity.  Set chicken on rack in roasting pan and roast for 45 minutes.

Remove the rack with the chicken and discard fat from the pan.  Add the chicken stock and lemon juice to the pan and bring to a boil over moderately high heat, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Place the rack with the chicken back in pan and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, basting often, until the juices run clear.

Transfer chicken to a carving board and cover lightly with foil to allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes before carving.

CHX

Love this recipe? Follow us and share it with your friends! Let us know how it came out and send us some pictures! Questions? Ask The Dads in the comments or e-mail: HarrisandDave@gmail.com

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Finally… Pasta Carbonara!

One of our favorite followers, Chris from Key West, has asked us to show him how we make our Pasta Carbonara! The thing is… that he actually asked us this a couple of months ago! We feel awful that it took so long to get up here, but truthfully this is not a dish for the diet conscious! So we waited to make it for when we had guests over to share the indulgence!

Here in the video, Harris shows you how to make a perfect Pasta Carbonara! See below for the recipe!

While our recipe calls for Hog Jowl, aka Guanciale at the Italian market, you can use Pancetta or a quality bacon.

Ingredients

(Serves four)

3 – tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

8 ounces Guanciale (which is cured pork jowl) or Pancetta or good Bacon

1 pound Spaghetti or pasta of choice

1 ¼ cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

4 – Large Eggs (room temperature)

Freshly ground Black Pepper

2 – tablespoons Kosher Salt

Frozen peas (Optional)

Directions

The Dads Tip: Guanciale is our first choice, but it may be difficult to find. Try your local pork butcher. Also, adding half the olive oil at the end adds that fresh olive oil flavor!

Bring 6 quarts of water to boil in a large pot and add 2 Tablespoons salt to the pasta water. Cook the spaghetti/pasta in the boiling water until just al dente.  

Meanwhile, combine half the olive oil and bacon/pancetta in a 12- to 14-inch skillet on medium heat.  Cook until the bacon/pancetta has rendered its fat and is crispy and golden.  Place cooked pork on paper towels to drain, set aside.  Retain about half of the dripping for coating the cooked pasta.

In a bowl, mix together the cheese, eggs, and pepper until smooth.  We like to add just a little bit of the hot pasta water to help temper the egg mixture.  This will prevent the eggs from cooking when added to the hot pasta.

When the pasta is done, reserve a cup of the pasta water.  Drain the pasta and place it in a bowl or back into the pot.  While the pasta is still really hot, slowly drizzle in the egg mixture, stirring the pasta the whole time.  The sauce will become very creamy as it coats the pasta.  If you need to loosen it up a bit, you can add some of the reserved pasta water. 

Now add the peas (optional) and crispy bacon to the mixture.  

Serve immediately and sprinkle the top with remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese!

The Dads Pasta Carbonara

Love this recipe? Follow us and share it with your friends! Let us know how it came out and send us some pictures! Questions? Ask The Dads in the comments or e-mail: HarrisandDave@gmail.com