MY ACCOUNT
MAIN DISHES
Listed below are some of the goodies served in our showrooms by Frederick Rayner.


Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients
1 pound box elbow macaroni, mini- penne or macaroni of choice
1 bunch asparagus, tough ends snapped off and cut in 1 inch pieces
1 bunch green onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
½ cup pine nuts, toasted (optional)
½ c parsley, chopped
1 package cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cups milk
4 T. butter
4 T. flour
2 T. olive oil
2 c. grated cheddar cheese
8 oz. bleu cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, F

Heat oil in skillet, add garlic. When garlic begins to sizzle, add vegetables and pine nuts. Sauté until done. Set aside.

Melt butter in a small sauce pan. Whisk in flour. In a separate pan, heat milk until boiling- watch carefully. When milk rises in pan, pour into flour mixture.  Take off heat and stir until thick. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add cheeses to sauce and stir until melted.

Drain vegetables and add to sauce.

Now cook the pasta according to package directions.

Add cooked pasta to sauce. Stir together and put into 9 X 13 casserole dish.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until brown on top

Variations:  add chopped ham.  May top with extra parmesan or crushed corn flakes mixed parmesan mixed in or sautéed slivered almonds.

Questions or comments about these recipes? Please e-mail fwr@globalviews.com.



Beef Tenderloin

 

Have a butcher skin and clean the tenderloin for you, removing the large membrane that runs down the side of it.  Or, if you want to clean the tenderloin yourself, you will need a sharp thin knife.  Take the knife and run the blade under the silver and the fat on the tenderloin removing it as you go along.  Try to get the blade as close to the silver as possible so you don’t remove the tender meat.

Once the tenderloin is cleaned of fat and silver, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (not garlic salt) or whatever marinade you prefer.  Place the tenderloin on a cookie sheet with low sides.  This is very important as placing the tenderloin in a pan with high sides will not allow the tenderloin to cook properly.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Place the tenderloin on the center shelf of the oven and bake at 450 for 7 minutes.  When the timer goes off, turn the heat down to 350 degrees (don’t remove the tenderloin from the oven) and cook for another 35 minutes for medium rare (for a 3 -5 pound cleaned tenderloin).  If the tenderloin is particularly large (over 5 lbs), it may take an additional 10 minutes.

When the tenderloin is done, remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes uncovered.  Covering the tenderloin at this point will only cook the meat further which you will not want to do.

Serve the beef tenderloin in thin slices with horseradish sauce (buy horseradish in a jar and mix with sour cream), hollandaise, or a mustard and mayonnaise mixture.

Questions or comments about these recipes? Please e-mail fwr@globalviews.com.



Easy Quick Hollandaise

Ingredients
5 egg yolks
1 lb. butter
Juice of 1 – 2 lemons
Salt
White peper
Paprika

 

Hollandaise is a delicious and rich treat that goes well with beef tenderloin, asparagus, as a topping for vegetable soufflés, broccoli, etc.  To make, melt the butter and get very hot.  Put the 5 egg yolks into a food processor with the metal blade attachment inside.  Turn on and pour the hot, melted butter slowly into the egg yolk mixture.  The eggs should thicken almost immediately.  Pour the lemon juice in a slowly steady stream after all of the butter has been poured.  Then add a dash of paprika, salt, and pepper.

The secret here is to pour in a slow steady stream and to have hot butter.

You may vary this recipe by adding tarragon and tarragon vinegar and omitting the lemon juice (which makes it béarnaise), or adding orange juice instead of lemon (making maltaise) which is a traditional sauce for salmon. 

Questions or comments about these recipes? Please e-mail fwr@globalviews.com.



Orecchiette with Smoked Salmon and Fennel

Ingredients
1 lb. Orechiette pasta
1 lb. smoked salmon
1 bulb fennel or anise
4 cloves garlic
1/2 bunch Italian parsley
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 package cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
1 8 oz tub of fresh mozzarella cheese – I prefer the small mozzarella cheese balls known as ciliegine
Parmesan cheese
Pepper

 

Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta with a dash of salt and a tablespoon of oil in the water.  When the water boils, cook the pasta – usually about 11-13 minutes for orechiette  Place the pine nuts on a cookie sheet and heat in a 350 degree oven until they are brown – perhaps 10 minutes – stir occasionally.  Meanwhile, chop the garlic finely.  .  Chop the fennel bulb (you may use part of the fronds of the fennel if you’d like but I don’t use much of it)  Remove the stems from the parsley and chop it.  Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Chop the smoked salmon into pieces.  Now take a large skillet and heat the olive oil with the garlic in it.  As the garlic begins to cook, add the fennel and sauté.  Do not allow the garlic to brown as browned garlic tastes bitter.  When the fennel is soft, add the parsley and the cherry tomatoes and the pine nuts and sauté about another 4 minutes – you want the cherry tomatoes to remain mostly whole but beginning to weep.  When the pasta is ready, add the sauce to the pasta and now add the chopped smoked salmon and the mozzarella cheese.  Stir all together.  Top with parmesan cheese to taste.

When I make this dish, I always chop everything up and get everything ready to be sautéed.  I put the pasta in the water, set the timer, and then begin sautéing the garlic, etc. for the sauce.  I do not add salt to this dish as the smoked salmon provides the salt.

(Tip for chopping garlic:  take a large flat knife and smash the garlic by pressing on it.  The skin of the garlic will be easy to remove.  Remove the green bud inside the clove and throw away.  Place all of the peeled garlic on a cutting board.  Take a teaspoon of the olive oil and a bit of salt (being sure to account for this in the recipe by reducing the amount of salt added later) and place over the garlic. Take a large knife and chop – the oil and salt on the garlic will prevent the garlic from sticking to the knife making it easier to chop)

Keep in mind that a recipe is only a guideline.  I made this dish in High Point and they didn’t have fennel bulbs the day I went to market so I made this dish with dill. 

Questions or comments about these recipes? Please e-mail fwr@globalviews.com.



Orecchiette with Broccoli Raab & Italian Sweet Sausage

Ingredients
1 bunch broccoli raab (about 1 lb)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts
4 Italian sweet sausage
8 oz. fresh mozzarella
Grated parmesan cheese to taste
Salt and pepper

 

Choose broccoli raab with a minimum of yellow flowers. Chop off the tough stems from the broccoli raab and any yellowed leaves. Wash, drain, and chop. Heat the olive oil in a deep sauté pan. Add the garlic and cook being careful not to brown. (Browning garlic adds a bitter taste) Add the broccoli raab and parsley and cook until it wilts down. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook another 5 minutes. Place the pine nuts on a cookie sheet and brown in a 350 degree oven. Cook the sausage on another cookie sheet until done. Be sure to prick the sausage on both sides before placing in the oven. When fully cooked, slice the sausage and drain the fat. Add the sausage and the pine nuts to the broccoli raab mixture.

Cook the orecchiette pasta according to the package instructions. Orecchiette is the ear shaped pasta from Southern Italy, especially Apulia. Toss the pasta with the broccoli raab mixture. Slice the fresh mozzarella into the pasta or place individual slices on a plate and put the hot pasta over it. Top with grated parmesan cheese.

Broccoli Raab (sometimes known as rapini) is a very nutritious vegetable, low in calories, and high in fiber. It has many cancer fighting vitamins and minerals including pantothenic acid, vitamin K, C, and the B vitamins. Sometimes I have made this recipe by substituting spinach or kale which are also extremely nutritious. In addition, I never miss an opportunity to add as much parsley to a recipe as possible. Vitamin pills are made out of parsley and it is a good way to get needed vitamins and minerals into your family and it doesn’t have an overpowering taste.

Questions or comments about these recipes? Please e-mail fwr@globalviews.com.