Breakfast in Bed: Easy Eggs Benedict
If Rich Ronaldi can do it, anyone can...
Ingredients:
2 English muffins
4 pieces of Canadian bacon
4 spears of asparagus, with hard ends broken off and then broken in half.
4 eggs
1 recipe of Hollandaise sauce (below)
Orange Juice
Coffee
1 rose
4 pieces of Canadian bacon
4 spears of asparagus, with hard ends broken off and then broken in half.
4 eggs
1 recipe of Hollandaise sauce (below)
Orange Juice
Coffee
1 rose
Directions:
Microwave asparagus in with about ¼ cup water for 5 minutes on high in a microwave safe bowl with a glass lid. Set aside.
Toast and butter English Muffins. (set aside)
Make Hollandaise sauce. Keep the sauce warm over a pot of hot water, taken off heat, whisking every few minutes.
Cook eggs and Canadian bacon. You can poach the eggs, but it’s not necessary. No one will complain if you make them over easy, just use a lot of Hollandaise sauce and no one will ever know
Assemble: Place the English muffins on plates, put one piece of Canadian bacon on each half, top with an egg, 2 pieces of asparagus and cover with Hollandaise sauce. Serve with a good cup of coffee, orange juice and a long stemmed rose. Enjoy!
Hollandaise sauce:
Ingredients:
½ cup butter
2-3 teaspoons lemon juice
2 egg yolks
1-2 tablespoons cold water
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dash of white pepper (or black – it doesn’t really change the taste, white just looks better)
2-3 teaspoons lemon juice
2 egg yolks
1-2 tablespoons cold water
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dash of white pepper (or black – it doesn’t really change the taste, white just looks better)
Directions:
Place butter and lemon juice in microwave safe bowl and microwave until melted. While whisking, add egg yolks one at a time. Beat until smooth. Return to microwave at medium for 15 seconds and watch carefully until it begins looking grainy. Quickly add a tablespoon or two of cold water and whisk until smooth. Add salt and pepper.
Start off with a lovely dinner, wine and candlelight. Move on to a full body massage and then a bubble bath for two. After you’re done with the bath, let her soak on her own for a while. In the mean time, throw together the chocolate fondue and then let nature take its course.
Be sure to wake up before she does and surprise her with a scrumptious Breakfast in Bed.
Be sure to wake up before she does and surprise her with a scrumptious Breakfast in Bed.
Safe for Kissin’ Chicken Piccata
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts halves or buy the thinly sliced chicken breast cutlets
2 tablespoons Olive oil
4 lemons, juiced
1 stick of butter
1 cup Vermouth
1/3 cups Capers
1 can artichoke hearts-quartered.
1 lb. Fettuccini
Flour
Garlic lemon pepper (is a mixture of garlic powder and lemon pepper, 50/50)
Salt
Directions:
Bring pasta water to a boil, salt well.
Cut the chicken breast halves horizontally, butterflying them. If the breasts are large, you might want to cut each into 2 pieces. Pound chicken until thin and flour with a mixture of flour, salt and garlic lemon pepper.
Add pasta to water and cook as directed.
In hot frying pan, place olive oil and over high heat, sauté/brown chicken breast on both sides. Remove from pan and place on a warmed platter, keep warm.
Deglaze pan with vermouth, add the juice of 4 lemons, the capers, artichoke hearts, and butter. Return chicken to pan and simmer to bring the temperature back up and make sure it’s cooked. When done, put chicken on a platter, reserve a small amount of sauce and pour the remaining sauce over fettuccini.
Rich Ronaldi’s Easy Baked Salmon
Ingredients:
4 fillets of Salmon
Enough Mayonnaise to coat the top liberally
Dill
Garlic powder
Lemon pepper
Directions:
Spray a Pyrex baking dish with Pam. Rinse and dry salmon.
Place the salmon fillets skin side down in dish. Brush the top of salmon with a thick layer of mayonnaise so that none of the fish is showing.
Sprinkle liberally with dill, a little garlic and lemon pepper to taste. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 – 20 minutes until the fish flakes when poked with a fork or knife.
Serve with yellow rice (can be cooked in the microwave, follow directions on package) Steamed broccoli, and a Caesar Salad (you can use the packaged salad, just throw the evidence away before your date arrives.)
Chicken Scaparelli
Ingredients:
Italian sausage—par-cooked and sliced
1 chicken cut in small pieces or cut breast & thighs (I used boneless skinless chicken breasts)
Flour seasoned with salt & pepper
Lots of garlic sliced (about 1 large head of garlic sliced)
½ lb mushrooms sliced
½ c dry white wine or dry vermouth
¼ c wine vinegar
1 ½ cups beef or chicken broth
1 tablespoon tomato sauce for color
½ lemon
*Note: I always double the liquids (wine, vinegar, broth, tomato sauce, and lemon) so that I have plenty of sauce to serve with a pound of pasta.
Directions:
Sauté mushrooms separately.
Par-cook sausage separately, drain, and slice.
Flour chicken and sauté in olive oil, placing sliced garlic on top of chicken pieces before turning. Turn chicken pieces to cook chicken on the other side.
To chicken and garlic, add wine, vinegar, stock and tomato sauce. Cook briefly on top of stove, add sausage, and mushrooms and cook until all is well heated and chicken and sausage are cooked. Add lemon juice just before serving.
Serve with pasta, wild rice, or white rice.
Becca's German Meatloaf
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1 egg
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
Topping:
1/2 cup catsup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix beef, pork, egg, apple sauce, bread crumbs and onion just until well incorporated but don't over mix.
Place in loaf pan, making sure to fill the corners. I usually leave the middle of the loaf higher and the edges lower to allow any grease to run off the top.
Back for 1 hour. Meanwhile mix the topping ingredients together until the brown sugar. Set aside.
After cooking one hour, drain grease and pour topping over the meatloaf. Return the meatloaf to the oven to 10 or 15 minutes.
Annabelle Ronaldi’s No Fail Pasta
with Artichoke Pesto
with Artichoke Pesto
1 (14 oz.) can whole artichoke hearts, drained and dried
1 cup chopped basil leaves
¼ cup pine nuts toasted (optional)
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese or parmesan (if you use parmesan, cut down on the salt or use none at all)
About 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Put all ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor, scraping the sides until finely chopped. With the machine still running, drizzle in enough oil so that it’s a good consistency – continue to blend until it’s almost creamy. Serve over 1 pound of linguini or spaghetti – it makes enough for about a pound and a half. The leftovers are great to spread on bread baggets.
Mama Ronaldi's Gingerbread Biscotti
Ingredients:
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1/2 cups dried apricots, coarsely chopped (optional)
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
Direction:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a sheet pan with parchment
In a stand mixer, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Mix at medium to low speed.
Add apricots and pecans, mix until combined, briefly.
In a measuring cup, mix the eggs, molasses and orange zest.
With mixer on low, slowly add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Mix for about 1-2 minutes (until the dough starts to come together in clumps).
Divide the dough into two pieces and form logs approximately 10 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide each.
Back on parchment paper covered pan for 30 - 35 minutes (until the tops are cracked and spring back when lightly pressed).
Let cool on rack for about 10 minutes
Peel the logs from the parchment and move to a cutting board. Slice diagonally into pieces about 3/4 of an inch wide.
Place biscotti back on the pan, cut side down (I reuse the parchment paper) and back for 10 - 20 minutes depending on how chewy or crunchy you want them. I like mine crunchy and dunkable.
Let cool completely and store in airtight container.
Rich and Becca’s Chocolate Fondue
It’s good for more than just dripping strawberries…
Ingredients:
¾ cup heavy whipping cream (reserve a ¼ cup in case fondue needs to be thinned or cooled for other uses) *grin*
4 bittersweet chocolate bars chopped (3 ½ oz. each)
2 Tablespoons Frangelico or Amaretto (optional)
Food for dipping such as strawberries, pretzels, marshmallows, biscotti, orange slices etc. (use your imagination.)
Directions:
Heat cream in microwave being careful not to scald, add chocolate and let sit in hot cream for a few minutes to soften, then whisk together.
Stir in liqueur and transfer to a fondue pot or set the mixing bowl on a rack over a small, lit candle.
Dip fruit and other edibles and feed each other. Then, if you wish, cool the remaining chocolate fondue off with heavy cream, one tablespoon at a time, until it’s cool enough to dip your fingers (or other body parts) in.
Homemade Massage Oil
Ingredients:
10 teaspoons grapeseed oil
7 drops of patchouli essential/fragrance oil
4 drops jasmine essential/fragrance oil
2 drops rose essential/fragrance oil
Directions:
Ingredients:
10 teaspoons grapeseed oil
7 drops of patchouli essential/fragrance oil
4 drops jasmine essential/fragrance oil
2 drops rose essential/fragrance oil
Directions:
Blend well, warm up oil in hands before doing any massage. Use liberally.