Have two cups of wine in the fridge? Here’s your perfect weeknight dish.

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Kitchen Guy’s Shrimp in Chardonnay Sauce Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups Chardonnay (or other full-bodied white wine)
2 shallots, finely minced
3 Tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 pounds medium raw shrimp, deveined and peeled
1/2 cup heavy cream
Fresh parsley for garnish

Method
In a large skillet, combine the shallots with the wine, 2 Tbsp. of the butter, a large pinch of salt and the cayenne. Bring to a boil over high heat and reduce the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the pan is nearly dry – about 10 minutes.

Add shrimp to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through (the shrimp will turn an opaque pink). Stir in the remaining butter and the cream. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.

Garnish and serve immediately.

An elegant, but easy-to-make chicken dish with a delicious Dijon mustard sauce.

Kitchen Guy’s Chicken Dijon Recipe

Ingredients
4 large chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
3 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 cup of cream
1/2 teaspoon each of dried rosemary, thyme and tarragon

Method
Pound chicken breasts to one-quarter inch thick. Heat 2 Tbsp. of the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Sauté chicken in a single layer (do this in batches if necessary) until lightly browned. Lower the heat to keep the butter from burning (or add some vegetable oil to raise the smoke point of the butter). Remove the chicken after browning and place on a plate and cover with aluminum foil while you make the sauce. Melt the remaining butter in the same skillet. Add the onion and cook until tender. Stir occasionally. Add wine and mustard and simmer until the mixture is reduced by one half. Add cream and simmer until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Hamburgers aside, there are two key types of beef suitable for grilling: most of the tender cuts and a few of the tough cuts.

The tender cuts great for grilling are the loin steaks: rib eye, T-bone, Porter House, New York Strip, Sirloin, and Filet Mignon. These cuts are naturally tender and should be well-marbled with fat. In general, all steaks should be grilled over medium heat. For a ribeye, Chef Erika recommends seasoning with salt & pepper or a rub if you like. Cook for 5-6 minutes each side. Your final internal temperature will be 130-135 for medium rare and 140-145 for medium. Be sure to rest for no less than 5 minutes before serving.

Instead of fat, the tough cuts suitable for grilling have lots of striated connective tissue in them: Flank steak, Hanger steak, and Flat Iron steak. The trick to these latter cuts is to cook them very quickly on the outside, serve them no more than medium rare, and slice them very thinly across the grain. The odd beast in this menagerie is the tri-tip.

Tri-tips are actually a small roast and originated as a cut in Texas, but didn’t find popularity until reaching Santa Rosa, California where it became hugely popular. It gains its name from its triangular shape and that results from being cut from the end of two different muscles. It can be tough, so look for plenty of marbling, but is packed with beefy flavor.

We hear more and more about the merits of grass-fed versus grain-fed beef. This is literally “a matter of taste.” Grass-fed beef usually has a deeper, richer flavor than grain-fed beef and is higher in good fats and lower in bad fats, but it’s usually not as well-marbled and not as tender (the breed of cattle can make a big difference here: Angus and Hereford are the best choices for grass-fed beef). La Cense is one well established brand of grass-fed beef that ships directly to consumers. Grain-fed beef is uniformly more tender, partially because the cattle are kept in small lots and can’t exercise, but also milder in flavor. The best beef in world – Kobe and Wagyu from Japan – graze on grass but are also fed some grain.

Welcome us to your backyard!

Chef Rod Woodley is ChefsLine’s resident grill master. Subscribers to ChefsLine’s premium membership can book live phone or webcam consultations with him to learn the finer points of charcoal and gas grilling techniques. Rod also hosts a Fish and Seafood Grilling class that you can purchase and experience – it’s just $15.95!

Chef Jackie offers a cooking class on Homemade Oils, Rubs, and Marinades – that is a great way to explore adding flavor to a whole host of cuts of beef for grilling.

Bring Springtime to your table anytime with this easy-to-make signature dish.

Kitchen Guy’s Pasta Primavera Recipe
Ingredients
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
1 pint half and half
1/2 pint cream
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/8 freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and white pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/2 pound linguine
1 small leek, washed and finely sliced
2 medium carrots, julienned
1 medium red bell pepper, julienned
1/4 lb. sugar snap peas, chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, diced
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1 cup broccoli florets
2 ounces prosciutto, julienned
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Method
Lightly saute the vegetables in olive oil, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Make a roux with the butter and flour. Add half and half and cream, along with garlic, nutmeg and salt and white pepper to taste. Cook until nicely thickened, simmering for about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wire whisk. Flavor with julienned basil.

Cook pasta in lots of boiling, salted water until al dente. Top with julienned vegetables and then with sauce. Add julienned prosciutto and shredded Parmesan cheese.

Pastitsio (Greek Pasta Casserole) Recipe

Ingredients
3/4 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 14-1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 tsp. white pepper
2 large eggs
1/2 lb. large elbow macaroni, cooked
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Method
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Meat sauce: Brown ground beef and onions in a large skillet over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Chop and add tomatoes with their juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and black pepper. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

Egg Sauce: In a small saucepan heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat, add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Whisk in hot milk and continue whisking until the mixture comes to a boil then lower heat and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp white pepper. Let cool a bit, and then stir in the 2 eggs.

Place half of the macaroni in the bottom of a glass baking dish and top with meat sauce. Top with half of the cheese, then the rest of the macaroni. Pour the egg sauce over the macaroni and top with the remaining Parmesan. Bake, uncovered, in 350-degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until casserole is lightly browned.