FEEDS: 2-3

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

• 2 T. canola oil
• 3/4-1 lb. fresh Polish sausage
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• 1 C. sauerkraut
• 1 lg. Idaho potato, diced and cooked

LET'S COOK

Heat the oil in a heavy gauge pan over a medium high burner, then add the sausage, which you have cut into 2 inch lengths. Stir and fry until the sausage takes on some color. Stir in the onions and cook until they get limp. Add the mushrooms and do the same.

Then, drain and lightly rinse the sauerkraut, then stir into the sausage mix. Finally, add the cooked and drained potatoes along with 1 or 2 tablespoons of the broth they were cooked in. Combine all the ingredients well, lower the flame to a simmer, cover and allow to steam for about 4 or 5 minutes. Serve with a crust of bread and some great mustard.

MORE IDEAS:

Try this recipe using kielbasa cuts.

FEEDS: 2-4

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 4-5 T. honey mustard
• 1/3 C seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/3 C. yellow cornmeal
• 3-4 T. canola oil

LET'S COOK

Place each piece of chicken between slices of waxed paper and pound with a small pot or pan just until it’s a uniform thickness. This will ensure even cooking. Place the chicken in a mixing bowl, drop in the mustard and smear it all over the meat.

One by one, put each piece of chicken into a pie plate with the mix of bread crumbs and corn meal. Pat each side of the chicken in the mix, then slide into a saute pan with the canola oil, which you’ve heated prior. Cook on both sides to a golden brown, plate and serve.

MORE IDEAS:

This recipe will also work with pounded chicken breast. Any flavor of mustard works, use what you like. Try using equal parts of seasoned bread crumbs, cornmeal and panko for extra crunch.

With gardening now a national obsession and herbs the kitchen connection between the stove and the soil, flowers have become the garnish of choice. The purple flowers of the mature chive are perfect when torn apart and scat-tered over a salad. Buds of oregano blooms make a perfect compliment to any entree, basil buds add punch and pizzazz to a pasta toss and even the mighty borage can perk up a dish visually as well as on the palate. (They taste a bit like cucumbers.)

But, for my money, nothing has the visual panache of the Johnny Jump up. These happy little faces, not unlike the pansy, light up any food preparation they're paired with. Purple flower petals pack punch when placed on practi-cally anything that's been plated.

Best of all, the plants seed themselves back, so they dominate a garden in one or two years. Better still, if cared for, the green plants will bear floral bursts of color the entire growing season.

Johnny Jump Ups look superb on a salad, as a plate accent next to an appe-tizer or placed on a mint leave near an entree. Finally, the stems, plucked whole with flowers intact, accent any dining table when stuffed into a tiny vase at the head of each place setting for your guests.

FEEDS: 2

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

• 1 flank steak, about a pound
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 T. butter
• 3 cloves crushed fresh garlic
• 2 T. chopped stuffed green olives
• 2 T. lemon juice

LET'S COOK

Season the beef with a dash of olive oil and a sprinkling of seasoned salt. Set aside. Preheat a broiler pan for at least 6 minutes. Place the beef on the hot pan and broil on both sides until it reaches the degree of doneness you desire.

Meanwhile, heat and melt the olive oil and butter in a small pan. Add the garlic and stir it around just until it foams. Immediately add the olives and the lemon juice. Stir it all up and keep it warm.

When the beef is done, slice it thin and arrange on dinner plates. Drain any slicing juices into the olive sauce, stir it up, then divide the sauce between the two servings of beef you’ve plated up. Serve without hesitation.

MORE IDEAS:

You could use a top round steak, even a New York strip or Delmonico.

FEEDS: 6-8

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

Eggplant:

• 1 medium eggplant, peeled and sliced lengthwise 1/2“ thick
• less than 1/8 t. Cayenne pepper
• 3 - 4 T. olive oil

Sauté or broil on both sides after seasoning with the oil and cayenne.

Spinach Filling:

• 1 T.olive oil
• 1/2 C. chopped onion
• 1/8 t. black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic sliced
• 10 oz. box mushrooms, sliced
• 2 bags (apx.1 lb.) baby spinach
• 5 oz. goat cheese (chevre)
• 2 T. fresh basil chopped

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan, add the onions, season with the pepper and sweat them down. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook them down. Then stir in and wilt the spinach. When that’s done, turn off the burner and mix in the chevre and the basil.

Lasagna:

• 1 lb. box lasagna noodles, cooked and cooled
• 1 ½ C. mozzarella, shredded (12oz.)
• 4 – 5 cups tomato sauce

LET'S COOK

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. To assemble the lasagna: Cover the bottom of a deep baking dish with ½ cup tomato sauce. Lay 3 strips of noodles over the sauce and spoon the spinach filling on next, spread around and then add a little more sauce. Add 3 more noodle strips, then the eggplant. Sprinkle ½ the mozzarella cheese on top. Pour 1 cup of tomato sauce over the cheese. Lay on another 3 noodle strips and cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan. Cover with foil and cook for 1 ½ hours in the oven. Cool for 20 minutes and serve.

MORE IDEAS:

Use your favorite spaghetti or marinara sauce. It’s O.K. to substitute ricotta cheese for the chevre.

FEEDS: 2-4

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• salt and pepper
• 5-6 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
• 6 oz. can tomato paste
• 1 can red wine, Chianti is perfect
• 2 cans water
• 1 T. grated pamesan cheese

LET'S COOK

Heat the oil in a small pot, add the onions, season with salt and pepper and saute over a medium high burner until the onions are limp. Stir in the garlic and cook an additional minute or so.

Then add the paste and use the empty can as a measuring device for the wine and water. Whip it together well, simmer for 10-15 minutes, stir in the parmesan cheese and this sauce is ready for pasta, sliced broiled pork or even a breast of grilled or baked chicken.

MORE IDEAS:

If you don’t have any wine, use chicken or beef stock or just more plain water. Keep in mind that a spoon of pesto, even some olive tapenade stirred into the sauce only serves to add more flavor. Get creative.

FEEDS: 2-3

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

• 1 ½ lb. fresh pork shoulder steak
• 1 t. Montreal Steak Seasoning
• 2 t. olive oil
• ½ C. red wine

LET'S COOK

Season each side of the steak with a ½ t. of the Steak Seasoning and a teaspoon of the olive oil. Poke the seasonings into the meat on both sides with a sharp fork. Cover and allow to sit, at room temperature, for about 45 minutes.

Heat a saute pan for a couple of minutes on a high burner, drop in the steak and cook on both sides for about 3-4 minutes each. Pour in the red wine, lower the flame to a medium setting and cook, turning the pork frequently, until almost all of the wine has reduced or evaporated.

Cut the steak in half, plate it up and drizzle with the pan juices. Serve without hesitation.

MORE IDEAS:

This recipe is best suited for a pork shoulder steak, an inexpensive, yet juicy and flavorful cut. McCormicks makes Montreal Steak Seasoning, an excellent enhancement for beef, pork and even chicken. I highly recommend you try it.

FEEDS: 2

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

• 3 strips great bacon
• 1 T. canola oil
• 5-6 shitake mushrooms, sliced
• salt and pepper
• 3 eggs whip with 1 T. water and 1 T. grated parmesan cheese
• 1-2 T. chopped chives or scallions
• 2 large tortillas or any flavor wrap that appeals to your palate
• ¼ C. grated cheddar cheese

LET'S COOK

Cut the bacon strips in half, fry in a pan and then pat dry on paper towels. Drain the bacon renderings from the pan, add the oil to the hot pan, then slide in the sliced mushrooms. Cook until wilted, season with salt and peper and lower the burner to medium.

Whip the eggs, water and parmesan chese in a small bowl, then pour into the sauteed mushrooms. Add the chives or scallions and scramble the eggs using a spatula. Lay out the wraps on a cutting board.

Divide the eggs between the two wraps, from side to side, horizontally, about a third of the way up from the edge closest to you. Sprinkle the hot eggs with the cheese, lay the bacon on that and then roll up the wraps. Cut in half and serve on warm plates.

MORE IDEAS:

Any vareity of mushrooms works fine. Swiss cheese is great, or use a cheese that you enjoy, try manchango. I like a bit of hot sauce on the side for dipping.

FEEDS: 4

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

• 1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ C. flour
• ½ t. seasoned salt and pepper
• 3 T. canola oil
• 1 medium onion, rough dice
• 5 cloves garlic, sliced
• ½ C. red wine
• 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• ¼ t. crushed pepper flakes
• ½ t. Italian seasonings
• ½ C. sliced stuffed green olives
• 1 T. drained capers

LET'S COOK

Cut the chicken into breast, leg, thigh and wing pieces. Mix the flour, salt and pepper in a bowl and heat the oil over a medium high burner in a pan that can eventually be put in the oven. Dredge the chicken well in the flour mix, then place in the hot oil and fry on both sides till nicely browned.

Remove the chicken to a plate, drop in the onions and cook until they’re browned. Add remaining flour to the pan, stir it up, and then stir in the wine, tomatoes, bay, red pepper and Italian seasonings. Bring to a boil, nestle in the cooked chicken, spoon some of the sauce on the chicken.

Then slide the pan in a preheated 325 degree oven, uncovered, and bake for 30 minutes. When that time is up, scatter with the olives and capers; stir it in a bit, then serve on cooked pasta, rice or even some mashed potatoes.

MORE IDEAS:

Boned breast and thighs are perfect in this recipe.