This is nothing short of spectacular.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• Several fresh basil leaves
• ½ cup chopped green onions
• 4 tomatoes peeled and sliced
• 1 – 9” deep dish pie crust
• 1 garlic clove chopped
• 1 ¼ slice of black forest ham, browned on both sides and cut into pieces
• Salt pepper

Preheat oven to 350ᵒ

Mix cheeses and mayo with salt and pepper in a bowl

In the pie crust layer first the ham, garlic, green onions, tomatoes, basil and then the cheeses mixture.

Bake 30 minutes

Serve

The object of this sauce is reduction. When the red wine and beef stock have reduced, then you will strain all the rosemary, peppercorns and shallots/onions. Return the sauce, and seasoning, thicken with corn starch and let cool. When you are ready to serve you can warm it a little. This sauce is ideal from preparing it in advance of plating.

2 TBSP Butter
3 Shallot, or ½ onion, chopped
1 sprig Fresh Rosemary
1 TBSP Peppercorns
1 ½ cup Cabernet Sauvignon or other dry red wine
1 ½ cup Beef Stock
2 TBSP Corn Starch
1 TBSP Worcestershire

1. In a small sauce pan sauté shallots in butter, medium heat
2. Add Rosemary and peppercorns and red wine, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes
3. Add beef stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes
4. Remove from heat, strain, clean sauce pan, and place wine sauce back in the small sauce pan.  It should yield 1 1/2 cups of reduction.
5. Heat sauce just a little; add salt and pepper, Worcestershire, add corn starch and whisk, set aside when you are ready to use.
6. When you have ready to serve, lightly heat sauce, spoon over meat

Meat
½ lb. or more wild caught salmon

Mirepoix
1 onion – chopped

Vegetables
1 small bunch (2 cups) Napa cabbage – chopped
1 clove garlic – minced
1 bunch mushrooms (any kind) sliced

Sauce
½ cup dry white wine
1 cups chicken stock
1 TBSP corn starch – mix first in two TBSP of cold water then add to the pot

Seasoning and Herbs, Oil
Salt and Pepper
3 TBSP olive oil
3 or 4 lemon slices
3 or 4 fresh basil leaves
1 tsp. cappers w/juice

Serve over rice

Sauté onions in olive oil. Add the cabbage and mushrooms. Cook for about five minutes. Add the corn starch and cook another five minutes. Add the wine and chicken stock. Place the salmon on top and add the rest of the ingredients. Cover and cook on a low flame for 40 minutes. Serve over rice.

This is the Little Woman’s dish.  She makes this once a week we love it so much.

There is this very big process in making mole sauce and in making pipian sauce. The sad part is no one will make this dish if they had to go through that process each time. So we made it easy on our self and bought Dona Maria mole and pipian sauce from the store.  It is really, really good.

As you know mole is made with dried guajillo, ancho and chipotle peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, peanuts, raisins, cinnamon, garlic, cumin, allspice, thyme, sugar, dark chocolate, salt and chicken broth – oh my lambs, I’m worn out thinking about it.

Pipián Rojo sauce has the same ingredients but leaves out the chocolates and adds ground pumpkin seeds. Like I said, this is way too much work for the average person cooker.

Brown chicken and remove.

Add one TBSP olive oil, sauté onions and sliced mushrooms.

Add
4 TBSP Dona Maria Mole sauce
2 TBSP Dona Maria Pipian Rojo

Add chicken stock and cook slow 15 minutes.

Return chicken and add carrots and cook covered 30 minutes

Serve in a bowl with cilantro topping over a bed of couscous.