Father's Day

We had a super fun and super busy weekend.  We grilled steaks on Friday(just following the recommendations of Beth Of Red Barn Farm), went to our kids mock swim meet Saturday morning(I stayed home with the boy), then boating with friends.  I have great pictures of the kids, but I need to check with our friends to see if it is OK that I post them. 

Sunday was, of course, the day we celebrated the man in our lives. Great day!!!  We mostly ate and ate and ate.  I created an appetizer that was killer.  Now, I know there are no original ideas and someone somewhere has probably made this, but it was original to me, so I am claiming it as mine!!

I started out by roasting chicken thighs covered in olive oil and rosemary slowly in a low oven.

I let them cool slightly and shredded the thighs.  I then made a wild mushroom kind of paste.  Sauteed a mixture of various mushrooms in butter and olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, right at the end I added a splash or whiskey.  I normally would have added a good Spanish sherry, but I was out.  I let the alcohol burn off then pureed the mix, returned it to the pan and added a splash of cream.  Let cool.  Boil lasagna noodles and let slightly cool. The noodles are kind of important.  You want them on the al dente side, so that they are not mushy and fall apart.  Do not rinse because the gluten helps keep them together(my hubby can't eat gluten, so I also made a batch with gluten free noodles).  Lay out the noodles, spread a thin layer of the mushroom mix, put a few pieces of chicken at one end and roll up.  Put them on a baking sheet seem side up, sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, put under broiler until browned.  I know lasagne roll ups are not original, but I created the filling.  I am now obsessed with all of the different things I can use as a filling.  I am thinking my next flavor combo will be pulled pork topped with shredded smoked Gouda and a thick smokey BBQ kind of dip.

Anyway, the part that I think is original is the "dip" I made for the roll ups..

I used fresh local whole milk ricotta, drained it over night, put it on a plate, drizzled with a good fruity olive oil, salt, pepper and dried oregano then topped it with Parmesan crisps.  We dipped the rolls into the ricotta mixture...to die for!  I named my creation "556 Roll-Ups" because there are 5(noodles, mushrooms, chicken, 2 kinds of cheese) main ingredients, I made them twice(gluten and non gluten 5-5) there are 6 of us in the family and the rolls look like rifling(to me, anyway:).

We also had a pork roast that I cooked, again, slowly in a low oven.  I braised it in a mixture of pureed onions, roasted pepita seeds, cumin, canned tomatoes, and tomato paste that I had caramelized. Lemon rosemary shrimp and my world famous crestless tomato pie.

The key to the pie is fresh ripe tomatoes and fresh basil.

Seeded and laid out to dry.

Finished product.  If you are Brigid or Jennifer, you might want to add bacon.  If your Maura you probably will want to skip the topping.

The hubby's plate.  We also enjoyed a glass of Fess Parker Pinot Noir.  Our personal fav.

 We finished the day with strawberry shortcake. Yes, I made the biscuits.

I did not include full recipes because it would have made this post waaaaay too long, but if anyone is interested just email me.