These are super easy and tasty. We usually use ground turkey, put the cooked meatballs in jarred marinara sauce and simmer for a bit on the stove. This is perfect for the leftover Costco pesto that’s always hanging out in the refrigerator.
Dan Pelosi; New York Times
¾ cup homemade or store-bought pesto, plus more for serving
½ cup panko bread crumbs
1 large egg
Salt and black pepper
Red-pepper flakes
1 pound ground chicken
½ cup grated Parmesan
Directions
Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Add pesto, panko, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper and a pinch of red pepper to a bowl and mix to combine, ensuring the panko is fully moistened. Add chicken and cheese and mix until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
Form the meat mixture into 15 small balls (about 2 tablespoons each) and place onto a baking sheet. Bake meatballs for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
Serve with extra pesto sauce on the side or with pesto-coated pasta.
Alternatively, pan-fry meatballs over medium heat on the stovetop in a little oil until golden brown.
1 cup pitted Castelvetrano or kalamata olives, smashed and roughly chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium shallot or ½ medium onion, minced
2 cups long-grain white rice, rinsed (PJH: use 1 cup)
4 cups (32 ounces) chicken broth (PJH: use 2 cups)
¼ cup roughly chopped fresh parsley, for serving
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Use paper towels to pat the chicken thighs until dry on all sides. Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon each salt, pepper and dried oregano and a pinch of crushed red pepper.
Place a large Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat and add oil. Let oil heat up for a few minutes. Add thighs to the pot, skin side down, and let cook undisturbed until they self-release from the bottom of the pot, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pot and set aside.
Cut 1 lemon into ¼-inch-thick slices. Add to the pot and cook until caramelized and softened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the pot and set aside.
Add the olives, garlic, shallot and 1 teaspoon each salt, pepper and dried oregano to the pot. Cook over medium-low heat, scraping browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until garlic is fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the heat up to high, add the rice and broth to the pot, stir to combine and cover until it comes to a boil, about 5 minutes.
Remove the pot from heat, add the browned chicken thighs on top of the rice, skin side up, then cover the chicken thighs with the lemon slices. Place the pot, covered, into the oven and bake until the rice and chicken are fully cooked, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve topped with fresh parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.
We have been making this for many years. It is from an old weight watchers slow cooker cookbook that is falling apart – so thought I better put it on here. We don’t follow the recipe directions at all so I won’t even include them here. Just throw everything in the slow cooker in the morning and let it go at its lowest setting all day… et voila, le dîner est servi.
1 lb pork loin cut up into 1 inch cubes. Boneless pork chops work just fine
2 cups onion chopped pretty fine
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
3 garlic cloves minced fine
1 teaspoon salt
2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes, drained
2 14 oz cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained – if you have time cooked dried beans are always better
1/2 lb smoked sausage cut itnto 1/2 inch pieces – we pretty much always use Slovenians which I highly reccomend
Sprinkle each serving w a bit of parmesan, ground pepper and fresh parsley if you have some.
PJH: I made this w boneless chicken breasts – just browned them first with no flour, used fresh mushrooms and kalamata olives. Was very good… maybe try boneless thighs next time.
2 whole chicken breasts
flour to dredge chicken
9 oz can of marinated artichoke hearts, liquid reserved
one can of sliced mushrooms, drained
14 oz can of chopped tomatoes and its liquid
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t salt
¾ t oregano
1 t dried dried basil
¾ t black pepper
¾ cup straight Sherry
½ cup pitted black olives (optional)
Directions
Cut the chicken into 2-3 inch pieces and dredge in the flour. Saute in liquid reserved from artichoke hearts until lightly browned. Add the artichokes, mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic, and seasonings, simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the Sherry and simmer 5-10 minutes more. Add olives and simmer till heated through. Serve over any type of pasta or polenta.
This is a wonderful dish for those times when you need to make something that seems fancy, but you don’t have any time to cook. It takes about 10 minutes to throw this dish together the night before you need to serve it. A green salad and some wild rice complete the meal.
3 – 4 lbs. of chicken parts (breasts, legs, thighs)
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup dried oregano
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup pitted prunes
1/2 cup pitted Spanish green olives
1/2 cup capers with a bit of juice
6 bay leaves
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white wine
salt and pepper to taste
Arrange chicken in a single layer in a casserole. Combine remaining ingredients, pour over chicken, cover, and let marinate overnight, flipping the chicken in the morning and letting it marinate all day. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, basting frequently with marinade in casserole. Chicken is done when thickest pieces yield clear yellow juice when pricked.
Perfect, flavorful and moist chickens every time. We always do two chickens with one recipe of brine and one recipe of fruit/veg on our Weber smokey mountain smoker for 4ish hours at 250 degrees (and throw some sausages on the second shelf for last two hours). Definitely do the overnight brine. The trimmings and carcass make great smokey stock for soup.
Mix all of the ingredients together in whatever container is needed for the amount of meat you have. (PJH: two Costco chickens brined in big huge stock pot)
Add your meat and don’t forget it MUST be refrigerated. You can brine for a few hours, overnight, or for several days!
When you remove your meat from the brine, thoroughly rinse with cool water. Pat dry and your meat is ready for spices/rubs and off you go!
chicken instructions
1. Brine the chicken – overnight if possible.
2. Chop the lemon, onion, apple and garlic cloves. Throw them in a bowl and mix together with salt, pepper and olive oil. Set aside.
3. Take your chicken out of the brine and rinse with cool water. Set on a tray. Now take the mixture you just made and stuff it inside the chicken.
4. Rub olive oil all over your bird. This will help give it a nice golden brown color. Then sprinkle salt and pepper all over, and a light dusting of paprika for color.
5. Set up your grill for indirect cooking (or use your smoker).
6. Place your bird away from the heat, and throw a bunch of wood on your coals. Stick with fruit wood – apple is a good pairing with chicken. Assuming your grill holds its temp around 250, and depending on the weight, your chicken will cook for 3 – 5 hours. You want an internal temperature in the leg of 170. If the bird is bigger or your heat is lower, it will take longer to reach this temperature.
7. Let the chicken rest for at least 20 minutes before pulling apart or slicing.
1 1/2 lbs flank or round steak cut into thin strips
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 t. salt
dash pepper
1/4 t. ginger
1/4 t. sugar
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 green peppers cut into large chunks
1 lb. fresh bean sprouts
1 medium onion, sliced
4 medium sized tomatoes, quartered
2 T. cornstarch
1 c. beef broth
Heat oil in wok or large frying pan. Add meat, garlic, salt, pepper, ginger and sugar; stir-fry until beef is no longer pink. Move meat from center of skillet; add soy sauce, green pepper and onion. Cook, covered about 3 minutes. Move food from center of wok and add tomatoes and bean sprouts; cook 3 more minutes. Make a smooth mixture of cornstarch and broth; add to hot mixture. Stir gently until thickened. Service over hot white rice.
I have made this several times over the past years from the always reliable The New Basics. It’s a nice main dish for a crowd that you can make ahead of time. Our Christmas Eve theme was “stuffed” so this was perfect.
11/2025 comments: PJH: I tweaked this a bit and it is much better: I used a big costco flank steak. I butterflied it and then marinated it in Garlic Expressions for most of the day. I spread pesto (costco), then lots and lots of fresh spinach, prosciutto and then sliced provolone. Make sure when you stuff it the finished rolls are cut against the grain – not like the pictures below. I let it sit for quite a long time – 30 minutes or so. It was perfecto – the marinating makes a big difference.
Its not hard to butterfly a flank steak. Just have to go slow.
…on goes the prosciutto…
…roasted red peppers…
…and the pesto. I didn’t follow the recipe, I just used jarred pesto and added some breadcrumbs to thicken it up.
rolled up and ready to go
The finished product. I didn’t get a very good picture… was a bit busy with 28 people over for dinner.
Italian Stuffed Flank Steak
The New Basics Cookbook, Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins
8 ounces fresh spinach, trimmed and well rinsed
1/c cup dried bread crumbs
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
3 red bell peppers, roasted
1 flank steak (about 1 ½ pounds), butterflied
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
1 fresh hot cherry pepper, cored, seeded, and minced
1. Preheat the over to 350°F.
2. Place the spinach in a saucepan with just the water that clings to the leaves. Cover, and cook over medium heat until wilted, 5 minutes. Drain in a colander, and press out the excess moisture with the back of a spoon.
3. Combine spinach, bread crumbs, Parmesan, olive oil, and garlic in a food processor and puree until thick and smooth. Transfer to a bowl.
4. Peel, core, and carefully seed the roasted peppers. Cut them in half.
5. Open the steak on a work surface, and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the prosciutto in one layer on the steak. Top with a layer of the roasted peppers. Then spread the spinach mixture over them, and sprinkle with the minced cherry pepper.
6. Starting with a long side, roll the steak up jelly-roll style. Tie it with string at 2-inch intervals, and brush with a little olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place steak in a shallow baking pan.
7. Bake 40 minutes for medium-rare. Cool slightly, or to room temperature, before slicing and serving.
4 to 6 portions
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For Christmas Eve we also had stuffed shells, little twice baked potatoes, stuffed cabbage, roasted vegetables. Of course we had to have hanky pankies, made a nice smoked salmon spread, cheese and crackers and Sean made some nice bacon wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese. Kirsten made cream puffs for dessert and Sophia dazzled all with her spectacular macarons that no one can get enough of.
It’s basil season on Edgecliff and we’ve got lots…
I grew four kinds this year. The standard genovese variety…
…a red variety I forget the name of – different than the one I usually grow (and don’t like it as much)…
…thai basil (going to try thai basil mojitos this weekend)…
…cinnamon basil – too pretty to pick.
If one has lots of basil then of course one needs to make pesto: One huge load of basil…
…about three heaping cups once trimmed and cleaned…
…about 1/3 cup of pine nuts…
…a couple cloves of garlic (this beautiful garlic is from our CSA and is so much fresher and such a huge difference…who knew)….
Swirl it all together in the Cuisinart with a healthy dose of good olive oil et voila.
Pasta with super fresh pesto and lots of herbs, zucchini with lots of basil and some really cool purple carrots (sauteed in butter and maple syrup). A beautiful summer plate of freshness.
Eat On Edgecliff 