Get a meal on the table fast and involve your kids in the process. This is an easy meal using a pomodoro sauce you can make in advance and flatbread that you can pick up at FRESH by Brookshire’s. Select the toppings that you and your family like and in minutes, you have a comfort-food dinner on the table.

Download the FRESH Flatbread Pizza recipe

SAUCE (see this recipe executed here.)

Ingredients

- 6 ripe tomatoes from the garden (pull the core out and rough chop)

- 3 cloves of garlic (rough chopped)

- 2 Noonday onions (rough chopped)

- ¼ c extra virgin olive oil

- 1 c white wine

- 1 c chicken stock

Directions

Preheat a sauce pot (get it extremely hot!).

Add oil and sear/sauté onions and tomatoes, while sautéing season with salt and pepper. (Your favorite canned tomato will work during the winter months.)

Deglaze with oil, stock and add garlic and simmer until nice and tender.

Season and serve as is or pour into a blender and purée smooth, according to your preference.

Season to taste.

PIZZA

Select from any of the artisan flatbreads that are made in the store at FRESH by Brookshire’s. Add fresh mozzarella cheese from FRESH. Pick up the toppings you like, such as the olives shown here, or fresh pepperoni, chicken, pineapple or any other pizza topping that your family will enjoy. Garnish with fresh parmesan cheese and bake in 400 degree oven for 8 – 10 minutes.

With an easy and delicious pasta and pizza sauce in your arsenal, fast dinners that please everyone at the table are a snap. FRESH Executive Chef Michael Brady shows you how to make a simple yet versatile pomodoro sauce that you can use on pasta, pizza and other recipes.

Download the FRESH Easy & Versatile Pomodoro Sauce recipe

Ingredients

- 6 ripe tomatoes from the garden (pull the core out and rough chop)

- 3 cloves of garlic (rough chopped)

- 2 Noonday onions (rough chopped)

- ¼ c extra virgin olive oil

- 1 c white wine

- 1 c chicken stock

Directions

Preheat a sauce pot (get it extremely hot!).

Add oil and sear/sauté onions and tomatoes, while sautéing season with salt and pepper. (Your favorite canned tomato will work during the winter months.)

Deglaze with oil, stock and add garlic and simmer until nice and tender.

Season and serve as is or pour into a blender and purée smooth, according to your preference.

Season to taste.

Enjoy!

Recipe

Download Sautéed Snapper with Stewed Corn, Okra, Peas and Crushed Avocado

Sautéed Snapper

Ingredients:
• 2 lbs. snapper filets, cut into 4 portions (can substitute any flaky white fish)
• Fresh cracked pepper
• Kosher salt
• Grape seed oil

Directions:

1.Heat a sauté pan on high heat and add ¼ cup oil
2.Season portions of fish with your salt and pepper and add to pan, skin side down.
3.Reduce heat and cook fish until golden brown, roughly 6-8 minutes, then flip. Let cook for another 2 minutes or slightly firm to the touch.

Summer Stewed Veggies

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. fresh peas, any variety
• ½ lb. okra
• 3 ears of corn
• ½ lb. bacon (chopped in ¼ inch pieces)
• 2 sweet yellow onions
• 1 chopped fresh jalapeno
• 6 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
• ¼ lb. unsalted butter
• ½ gallon unsalted chicken stock
• 3 dried bay leaves

Directions:

1. Preheat medium stew pot. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, bacon, onions and chopped jalapeno.
2. Once you have developed some color on onions and bacon is a little crispy add garlic, okra, corn, and peas.
3. Cook for about 5 minutes on medium-high heat, frequently stirring
4. Add stock and butter.
5. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and 3 bay leaves. Reduce heat to low-medium and let simmer until vegetables are tender.

Crushed Avocado

Ingredients:
• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 fresh lime
• Kosher salt
• Fresh cracked black pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Remove meat from avocado and add to a mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Squeeze in the juice of 1 lime and a drizzle with EVOO.
2. Mix well until all ingredients are incorporated but mixture is still chunky.

Recipe (Makes 4 side salads)

Download Grilled Texas Peach, Prosciutto and Goat Cheese Salad

Ingredients:

2-3 ripe peaches (about ½ a peach per person)
2 pkgs. butter leaf lettuce
½ lb. prosciutto, sliced paper thin
4 oz. toasted pistachios
White Wine Vanilla Honey, recipe follows
4 oz. goat cheese
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. champagne vinegar
Kosher salt
Fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl add lettuce, salt, pepper, oil and vinegar and toss lightly.
2. Once evenly mixed, stack high and in the middle of the plate, shingling the sliced prosciutto between the layers of butter leaf.
3. Garnish with toasted pistachios, crumbled goat cheese, and grilled peaches. Drizzle with the cold white wine-vanilla honey. Top with fresh cracked pepper.

Vanilla-white wine honey
-3 vanilla beans (split and scraped)
-1 bottle white wine
-3 cups white sugar
-1 tbsp honey

Combine vanilla, wine and sugar in a saucepan and reduce to a syrup. Once reduced to the syrup state, stir in the honey. Place in refrigerator to cool before adding to salad.

Do you have meat in the freezer from a hunting expedition? Meat that you didn’t use for another recipe, perhaps? Well here’s an easy recipe for a great-tasting Tortilla Soup (or you might look at it as a stew). Just assemble and prepare your ingredients, add them to a soup pot, let it simmer and then serve and enjoy.

Recipe

Download the printable FRESH Any Meat You Have Tortilla Soup recipe (pdf)

Ingredients

- 1 – 2 lbs. ground meat (beef, pork or game)

- 2 red or purple onions, chopped

- 2 jalapeños, rough chopped

- 2 red Fresno peppers, rough chopped

- 1 bundle fresh cilantro, chopped

- 1 can (14 oz.) diced tomatoes with Chipotle

- 2 lbs. diced tomatoes, fresh or canned

- 1 lb. black beans, fresh-cooked or canned

- 1 bottle Shiner Bock beer

- 1 quart chicken stock

- ½ tbsp. cumin

- ½ tbsp. ancho powder

- ½ tbsp. chili powder

- salt & pepper

- 1 tbsp. grape seed oil

- 1 pkg. fresh flour tortillas

Directions

Add grape seed oil to a deep cooking pot and heat over medium high heat on stove. Chop onions, jalapeños and Fresno peppers and add to pot. Add meat to pot. Add salt & pepper and mix together. Combine diced tomatoes and cooked black beans in a bowl and drain. Add to pot and mix. Add cumin, ancho powder and chili powder to pot and mix. Pour in one bottle of Shiner Bock beer and stir. Add chicken stock and stir. Reduce heat and allow to simmer 45 to 90 minutes. When ready to serve, cut five tortillas into strips and add to pot. Chop one bundle of cilantro, reserve a small amount and add the rest to pot. Stir well until tortillas and cilantro are well mixed in. Ladle into bowls, garnish with reserved chopped cilantro, grated cheese or diced onions at your option and serve.

We put a different twist on a classic main dish by substituting ground pork for beef in this recipe. Plus, we demonstrate the power of including your children in meal preparation to give them a sense of ownership of what you put on the table. My three year-old son Liam joins me in preparing Pork (or whatever meat you like) Stroganoff.

Recipe

Download the printable FRESH Pork or Beef Stroganoff recipe (pdf)

Ingredients

- 1 pound ground pork (or beef or any ground game that you have such as venison, etc.)
- 1/2 pound  bacon (small chop)
- 2 yellow onions, chopped
- 1 bundle green onions, chopped
- ½ pount mushrooms (whatever kind you fancy), sliced. Let your kiddos begin helping by teaching them how to hold a knife (butter knife for safety) and slice.
- 2 green bell peppers, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 8 tablespoons butter
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ½ gallon whole milk
- ½ gallon chicken stock
- Kosher salt, to taste
- fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 pounds pasta, (whatever variety your kiddos choose), boil to al dente and hold warm

Directions

You will need two pots. In the first one pour milk and stock and place on low heat. In the second pot place on high heat and add bacon to render out fat and then add your choice of ground meat. Once you have developed some good color on your bacon and ground meat, add mushrooms, onions and bell peppers and sauté for four minutes. Then add garlic and sauté and stir for two minutes.  Add butter and let melt, then add flour and stir for one minute. Add your warm liquid mixture and stir for 2-3 minutes or until you start to see the mixture thicken up. Once it has started to thicken, cover and remove from heat.  Add your pasta to mixture and season to taste, add chopped green onions and stir in sour cream before serving.

This is a simple, healthy and great-tasting “one-pot” dinner recipe that your family will love.

Recipe

Download the printable FRESH The Perfect Roasted Chicken (pdf)

- 1 whole chicken, 2-3 lbs.

- Kosher salt to taste

- freshly-ground black pepper to taste

- 1 pinch crushed red pepper

- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

- Dijon mustard (optional)

- 5 – 6 red potatoes (Baby Creamers, Yukon Golds, etc.)

- 2 carrots

- 2 yellow onions

- 2 fennel bulbs

- olive oil

- 2 teaspoons thyme, chopped

Preheat oven to 450°F. Rinse chicken, dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better. Salt, crushed red pepper and pepper the cavity, then truss the bird. Trussing is not difficult, and if you roast chicken often, it’s a good technique to feel comfortable with. When you truss a bird, the wings and legs stay close to the body; the ends of the drumsticks cover the top of the breast and keep it from drying out. Trussing helps the chicken cook evenly, and it also makes for a more beautiful roasted bird.

Salt the skin of the trussed bird generously (depending on the size of the bird about 1 tablespoon). This will give a great salty and crispy finish on the exterior of the bird. Cut the vegetables to your liking and mix together in a bowl with a touch of olive oil, fresh chopped thyme, salt and pepper. Place vegetables in bottom of roasting pan and place the chicken on top.  Add butter inside the cavity of the chicken.

Bake approximately 50-60 minutes, remove from oven and allow chicken to rest 5 to 10 minutes at room temperature. Before placing chicken on a cutting board, hold over the roasted vegetables with cavity side down and allow juices to drain. Use Dijon mustard for dipping sauce on side, if desired.

Taking the step to brine your protein — such as chicken, pork, pheasant, duck, goose, etc. –  before cooking really helps the tenderness and juiciness. And with this brine recipe you also get some nice bright high points to your meat. This brine has been developed over several years. It is very versatile and adds wonderful flavors yet, it is not so overwhelming as to overshadow the rest of your recipe.

In this video, we prepare the brine and then finish by showing you a pork loin cooked after it has been brined.

Recipe

Download the printable FRESH The Magic of Brining Meat (pdf)

User-Friendly Brine

- 1 gallon water (hot)
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 bundle fresh thyme
- 1 bundle fresh tarragon
- I bundle fresh basil
- 3 oranges
- 3 limes
- 3 cardamom seeds
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper

Dissolve sugar and salt in hot water and then add all other ingredients and allow to cool. Add bird, pork loin, duck, goose etc. Place in refrigerator for 24 hours.

The workhorse of this recipe is the Tomato Fennel Ginger broth that can be used in the recipe for Seared Chicken Thighs shown here and in other main and side dish applications as well. In addition to the entreé that we demonstrate here, this broth can be made to use with seafood in a Fisherman’s Stew, or with rice in a unique side dish or with vegetables in a vegetable stew.

Download the printable FRESH Chicken Thighs in Tomato Fennel Ginger Broth Recipe (pdf)

Tomato Fennel Ginger Broth

- 1/2 cup olive oil

-1 large fennel bulb, julienned, fronds reserved

- 1 yellow onion

-3 cloves garlic, minced

-6 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced, separated in half

- 2 cups dry white wine

- 1 8 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, puréed in food processor or blender

- 3 cups chicken broth

- 1 package orzo pasta

- 3 teaspoons fresh cracked black pepper

- 2 teaspoons kosher salt

- 1 bunch fresh basil, chiffonade

- 3 tablespoons orange-flavored olive oil or the juice and zest of a half orange (optional)

- 1 tablespoon butter

- grated parmesan cheese (optional)

In a medium sauce pan or large skillet heat oil over medium heat. When oil is hot add fennel and onion. Cook, stirring frequently until softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and half of the ginger, stir cook about one minute. Add wine, reduce heat by three quarters. Add puréed tomatoes, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and and lower heat to maintain a simmer for about 15 minutes. Add orzo pasta. Increase heat to a boil to cook pasta. If you are adding chicken or another protein to the broth, do so now, reduce heat and simmer until protein is fully cooked. Add basil and 2 tablespoons chopped, reserved fennel fronds. Add butter. If adding optional orange juice and zest, do so now. Stir in grated parmesan cheese. Transfer to serving platter or bowls. If you haven’t used the orange juice and zest option above, drizzle optional orange-flavored olive oil on top and finish by sprinkling grated parmesan cheese.

Seared Chicken Thighs with Tomato Fennel Ginger Broth

- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

- 1 teaspoon kosher salt

- 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

- recipe above for broth

In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to hot oil with skin side down. Brown chicken on all sides, cooking until almost done, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add to tomato broth, simmer an additional 10 minutes until done. Follow instructions in broth recipe above to finish and serve.

Great served with sautéed kale and steamed jasmine rice.

Recipe

Download the printable FRESH Chilaquiles with Red Chile Sauce Recipe (pdf)

Red Chile Sauce
- 2 Ancho chiles, stemmed
- 1 Guajillo chile, stemmed
- 3 Chiles de Arbol, stemmed
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, sliced
- 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 3 cups water
- 2/3 cup buttermilk

Combine all ingredients, except buttermilk, in a saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium, let simmer 12 – 15 minutes. Remove from heat, let mixture cool slightly. Puree in blender, in batches if necessary, taking care that hot liquid expands in a blender. Blend until completely smooth. Add buttermilk and mix.

(In addition to its use in this recipe, this sauce is excellent for grilled chicken, steak or pork. It can also be used as a salsa for tortilla chips.)

Chilaquiles
- 12 corn tortillas, cut into 1 inch strips
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 1/2 cups Red Chile Sauce (from recipe above)
- 4 eggs, scrambles or fried
- 2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
- 2 T chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/4 red onion
- 2/3 cup sour cream

In a medium to large skillet heat oil over medium high heat. When oil is hot, add tortilla strips and cook, stirring regularly until crispy, taking care not to splash hot oil. Reduce heat to medium, add Red Chile Sauce to pan, cook for about three minutes. Add chicken and mix. Remove to a serving platter or individual plates, top with eggs. Garnish with cilantro, onions and sour cream.

Recipe serves four.