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Ingredients

8 ounces blue cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon capers, or to taste

Directions

Crumble blue cheese onto a serving plate. Mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, wine vinegar, garlic, mustard powder and black pepper. Drizzle over the cheese. Sprinkle red onion and capers over the top. Serve right away, or chill up to a full day before serving.

Ingredients

1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin
1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
1 cup water
3/4 cup red wine
3 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons soy sauce
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Place pork tenderloin in a slow cooker with the contents of the soup packet. Pour water, wine, and soy sauce over the top, turning the pork to coat. Carefully spread garlic over the pork, leaving as much on top of the roast during cooking as possible. Sprinkle with pepper, cover, and cook on low setting for 4 hours. Serve with cooking liquid on the side as au jus.

Ingredients

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup Shiraz wine
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 teaspoon lemon pepper
2 pounds salmon fillets
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water

Directions

In a bowl, mix the brown sugar in the hot water until dissolved. Pour into a large resealable plastic bag, and mix in wine, soy sauce, olive oil, garlic, and lemon pepper. Place salmon in the bag, seal, and marinate 8 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat a grill for high heat.

Lightly oil the grill grate. Reserving marinade, place salmon on the grill, and cook 5 to 8 minutes on each side, or until easily flaked with a fork.

Transfer reserved marinade to a pot. Dissolve the cornstarch in cold water. Bring the marinade to a boil, and stir in cornstarch mixture to thicken. Serve over the salmon or on the side as a dipping sauce.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 pound hot Italian sausage

5 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 russet potato, cubed
5 stalks celery, diced
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 cup red wine
1 (32 fluid ounce) container beef broth
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 cup uncooked rotini pasta
1 cup baby spinach leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 bunch fresh basil, chopped
salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the Italian sausages in the hot oil, turning occasionally, until browned on the outside and no longer pink in the center, 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool; remove all but 1 tablespoon of grease from the pot.

Stir the garlic, onion, carrot, potato, and celery into the hot fat. Cook until the vegetables are tender and the onion has turned translucent, about 7 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste until no lumps remain; pour in the red wine. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until the liquid has reduced by half, stirring frequently to dissolve the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the beef broth, black beans, and diced tomatoes. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 1 hour.

Cut the cooled sausage into 1/2-inch thick slices. Stir the sausage into the soup along with the rotini pasta, spinach, and dried oregano. Simmer until the pasta is tender, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in the chopped basil and season to taste with salt and pepper before serving.