Make Your Own Strombolis

Now that you know how to make your own pizza dough (see here), you might want to branch out a bit. The other night we decided to try making stromboli's for the first time.  Stromboli's are sort of like a piece of pizza rolled onto itself. Same flavors, different fillings, easy and fun to make. 

Ham and Pepperonio Strombolis
1 ball of pizza dough (recipe link above)
1/4 - 1/2 cup basic tomato sauce (here)
4 slices of ham
20 slices of pepperoni (or to taste)
1 cup shredded mozzarella or slices of fresh mozzarella
1 egg, beaten and mixed with 1 tsp of water


Directions
Preheat oven to as high as it goes - mine goes to 550 degrees. Divide the ball of dough into two pieces. Roll each out on a floured board into a large oval shape.  Place about 2 tbsp of tomato sauce (or more to taste) on the bottom of each piece of dough, leaving a one inch border around all edges.

Top each piece of dough with 1/4 of the mozzarella.  Top with half the pepperoni and then with half the ham slices on each dough.

Top each stromboli with an additional 1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese. Brush the edges of the stromboli with the egg wash.

Start with one long side of the stromboli and start to roll it over onto it self. Continue to roll the stromboli until you reach the other one inch border.  Place the stromboli on a pizza stone (or baking sheet), seam side down.  Brush more egg wash to cover each stromboli, and cut a few slits into the top of each.  Top with a little sea salt.

Place the strombolis in a hot oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until the strombolis are bubbly and the dough is browned.

Allow to cool a bit before cutting into it.   Enjoy!!

Summertime Soup - Gazpacho

Gazpacho is a must for a hot summer day. It's refreshing and cooling, and incredibly easy to make.  I like to make a batch of it to keep in the fridge to have for a light dinner, or even to bring to work for a midday snack.   The food processor does all the work for you. I puree the veggies in groups to get the right consistency and then mix everything together.  To help the food processor along I dice all the veggies into a large dice so they get chopped up evenly.  These are the veggies that I used this time, but you can play around with it and use whatever looks good. To make this for company top each bowl with a few roasted shrimp and drizzle with a good quality extra virgin olive oil. I like my gazpacho a little chunky, but pulse the veggies as much or as little as you like.

Summertime Gazpacho
2 1/2 pounds roma tomatoes, diced
2 large cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced
1 jalapeno, seeds removed and diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 handful of cilantro, stems removed
1 handful of bail leaves
1 -2 tbsp salt, to taste
2 tsps pepper
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions: 
Put the tomatoes in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped/pureed. Put in a large bowl.  Put the cucumbers in the food processor - pulse until desired consistency.  Add to the tomatoes.  Put the jalapeño, garlic, cilantro and basil in the food processor at the same time - puree until finely chopped.  Place in the same bowl.  Mix all the veggies together - add the salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. Allow the gazpacho to sit and let the flavors meld together for a few hours. After the gazpacho sits for a while taste and add more salt/pepper as necessary.

healthy side dishes 2

I never grew up eating green beans - for most of my life I was ambivalent towards them and never really ate them.  In the last year or two I've started cooking with them a lot more, realizing when prepared simply, how delicious they can be.  I credit this to eating amazing garlic stir fried green beans at a favorite Chinese food restaurant.  While there is no way those are healthy, I tried to mimic the flavors in a side dish that I now make all the time and feel that I got pretty close.  These garlicky string beans are quick, easy, and addictive. I have been known to make them almost every day for a week when I get on a kick...This time I added a package of cremini mushrooms to the green beans.


Garlicky Green Beans with Mushrooms
1 pound green beans, the ends trimmed and cut in half
1 package cremini mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 cloves garlic, finely minced or grated
Red pepper flakes, to taste
1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp p epper
1 tbsp olive oil

Steam the green beans until they are crisp tender and bright green - about 2-3 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan heat up the olive oil.  When it is hot, add the red pepper flakes (use as much or as little as you like).  Add the sliced mushrooms, tossing to coat in the oil.  The mushrooms will soak up all the oil so keep an eye on the mushrooms so that they don't burn.

Add a little salt to the mushrooms, that will bring their moisture out.  Once the mushrooms have browned add the green beans and the minced/grated garlic.  Add the remaining salt and pepper.  Toss the veggies frequently - you just want to season the green beans.  Enjoy :)

Bridal showers, brunches and more

This past weekend was one of my close friends surprise bridal showers.  The bridesmaids threw the shower, and I came up with the idea of personally catering a bridal shower for almost 50 people.  I've written before about how lots of the recipes that I use are easy and can be made in advance - this bridal shower put this to the test! I needed to figure out what dishes could be either completely made the day before and reheated, or things that could be completely prepped the day before and then assembled and baked the day of.

Here is the menu that I came up with and was a HUGE hit at the shower. If you've checked out my blog before, you're sure to see a few oldies but goodies.  Click on the recipes that I've made before for a direct link to those recipes: 

Broccoli Rabe Egg Bake

Baked Blintzes with Blueberry Sauce
Creme Brûlée French Toast

Roasted Red Potatoes with Rosemary and Sage
Broccoli & Cheddar Quiche
Kalamata Olive, Feta and Roasted Red Pepper Quiche
Mixed Vegetable Quiche

All of these with the exception of the baked blintzes are really very easy to make.  The baked blintzes require a little more prep and are a few more steps,  but still not too hard to make.

QUICHES


I've made quiches before (see here), so that was a obvious choice for something quick and easy to make.  I fully cooked each of the quiches the day before and then just brought back to room temperature before serving them on the morning of the shower.  To make things easier, I bought frozen crusts instead of making my own crust, but you do whatever it is that's easiest for you.

The base recipe is the same for each quiche - in fact I made one giant bowl of the egg custard that forms the base of the quiche, and then added the filling ingredients to each quiche and just poured the egg custard over the fillings to each quiche shell.

Egg Custard Filling for Quiches (makes one quiche)
8 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp milk or cream
1 tsp salt/ 1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Combine all the above ingredients, whisking well.

Broccoli Cheddar Quiche
1 pie shell
Egg custard filling
2 cups steamed, chopped broccoli
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Kalamata Olive, Feta and Roasted Red Pepper Quiche
1 pie shell
Egg custard filling
1 1/2 cups chopped, pitted kalamata olives
1 cups crumbed feta, preferably greek or bulgarian feta
2 cups roasted red peppers, sliced (either homemade or from a jar)

Mixed Vegetable Quiche
1 pie shell
Egg custard filling
1 cup steamed, chopped asparagus
1 pint button mushrooms, sliced and sautéed
1 bunch fresh spinach, washed and finely chopped

Directions
As I said above, when I made the quiches for the bridal shower I made one large batch of the egg custard filling and added the ingredients of each quiche filing to the pie shell.  Then all I needed to do was pour the egg filling into each pie shell.  If you are making more than one type of quiche, this is the easiest way to do it.  If you are just making one quiche, then add the ingredients in with the egg before pouring into the pie shell.

Using the technique of adding the egg custard separately lets you make multiple types of quiche, which is fun.  For the mixed vegetable quiche use whatever veggies you like - just make sure that each ingredient is steamed or cooked before hand so its nice and tender.


Roasted Potatoes

 My mother makes the best roasted rosemary potatoes, ever.  They are always crispy and completely cooked through.  I've had problems trying to achieve the balance between a crust on the potato and having it be cooked through and not raw in the middle.  What I've started to do which works out great (especially for a make-ahead brunch like this) is to par-boil the potatoes until they are 3/4th the way cooked through.  Allow them to cool, and then fry them up in some olive oil to finish cooking them and get them crisp all over.  Keep them in the oven at a low temperature to keep warm until ready to serve.

Roasted Rosemary and Sage Potatoes
A few pounds small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half if small, or into quarters if larger (note: if you are chopping the potatoes before you are going to cook them, leave place the cut potatoes in a large bowl with water - this will stop them from browning).
A few tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup of chopped fresh rosemary and sage

Place the cut potatoes in a large sauce pan and cover with water.  When the water comes up to a boil add a handful of salt.  Cook the potatoes until they are cooked 3/4th the way through.  Drain and set potatoes aside.  The potatoes can be stored in the fridge until you're ready to use them or be used immediately.

Put the boiled potatoes in a large bowl  Pour the olive oil, salt/pepper, and fresh herbs into the bowl and toss well to coat. Each potato should be coated in oil and fresh herbs.


Heat up a large sauté pan over medium high heat.  Fry the potatoes in batches, making sure that you fry them in a single layer in the pan.  Let the potatoes sit for a few minutes so that a crust can form - do not keep moving them around the entire time! Once the potatoes are browned all over transfer them to baking sheet and keep warm in a  250 degree oven until all the potatoes are cooked and ready to serve.

Blintzes


I usually look at recipes and then adjust them to water my tastes are.  For this baked blintz recipe however I pretty much followed it completely since it is a more involved recipe. It's an Ina Garten recipe (thanks again Ina!) and while it takes a few steps it was delicious!

For the Batter:
1 1/4 cups milk

• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 extra-large eggs
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder

For the Filling:
3 cups (24 ounces) ricotta cheese

• 8 ounces mascarpone cheese
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Fresh Blueberry Sauce (recipe follows)  (instead of fresh blueberries I used a bag of frozen blueberries and it worked just fine)
• 
  
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 by 13-inch cake pan or baking dish.

Directions

For the batter, place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and blend until smooth. (You can also use a blender.) Pour half the batter (about 1 3/4 cups) into the prepared dish and bake for 10 minutes, until set.

Meanwhile, for the filling, whisk together the ricotta, mascarpone, eggs, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt and mix until thoroughly combined. Spread the cheese filling over the baked pancake. Carefully spoon the remaining pancake batter to cover the cheese.

Return the pan to the oven and continue baking for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is lightly golden and the filling is almost set. Remove from the oven and allow to stand 10 to 15 minutes. Cut the blintzes in squares and serve warm with the fresh blueberry sauce.

• Blueberry Sauce:
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (3 oranges)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 4 half-pints fresh blueberries
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Combine the orange juice, sugar, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. When the mixture is translucent and thickened, stir in the blueberries and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, just until a few berries have burst but most are still whole. Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice and cool. Yield: Makes 2 cups.

Back to Basics - Tomato Soup

Tomato soup is one of the best comfort food, and luckily its incredibly easy and quick to make.  My version is a little lighter than your average tomato soup - it doesn't use any cream and uses fresh tomatoes instead of canned.  If you want a richer soup, you can add extra tomato paste and add cream at the end of the cooking time.  

Lightened-up Tomato Soup

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 rib celery, chopped

2 stalks/fronds of fennel, chopped (these are the tops of the fennel bulb -- its a great way to use the top of the fennel which has tons of flavor instead of just using the fennel bulb)

2 pounds of roma tomatoes, chopped (get the ripest tomatoes you can since they are the base of this soup)
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
6 cloves of garlic, roasted (to roast the garlic, wrap the cloves in aluminum foil and top with a little olive oil and salt/pepper. tightly wrap the garlic in the foil and roast at 350 degrees until the garlic is completely tender and browned, approx. 30 minutes)
2 quarts of vegetable or chicken stock

use this part of the fennel for soup

Directions


To make the soup, first sauté the onions, fennel, carrots and celery in about 2 tbsp of olive oil. Sauté until the vegetables become translucent, about 10 minutes.  

the vegetables should go from looking like this....

to looking like this

Add the tomato paste and coat all the veggies in it.  Allow the tomato paste to cook, constantly stirring it for about 2 minutes.  Add the fresh thyme and about 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper to the pot, stirring. Add the the roasted garlic.

the garlic should be browned, like this

Add the tomatoes and the stock. 

Bring the soup up to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer.  Allow the soup to simmer for at least 1/2 an hour, but if you have the time let it simmer for anywhere between 1-2 hours.  Use an immersion blender and puree the soup until its completely smooth.  Taste for seasoning - you might need to add extra salt and pepper to it.  If you have fresh basil add it before you puree the soup for a fresh tomato/ basil soup 

Sometimes using fresh tomatoes can be tricky - if they aren't perfectly ripe your soup can end up a little bitter. You can always substitute two 24 oz cans of good quality whole tomatoes for the fresh tomatoes.  If your soup is a little bitter, you can add a little bit of sugar to it to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes. 

back at it with baked chickpeas

I apologize for the lack of posts recently - sometimes life gets in the way.  Once we were done with chili cook off there was a brief hiatus away from cooking and some laziness took over... But I'm back in the swing of things and ready to get back to blogging.  In the next few days there should be a few new posts that are for some "real" recipes, but here's a quickie snack that I just made that is really easy and delicious to have around the house.  These baked chickpeas are a great snack to have on hand and go great with a nice cold beer.  You can feel good about eating them and eat even more.

Baked Chickpeas
1 can of chickpeas, drained
1 tbsp olive oil
salt/pepper
cumin
cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to approximately 300 degrees.  Place the drained chickpeas on a baking sheet in an even layer.  Drizzle the chickpeas with olive oil, and then liberally sprinkle salt and pepper on them.  Sprinkle as much cumin and cayenne pepper as you like on them - obviously the more you put the stronger flavor the chickpeas will have.  Bake in the oven for approximately 1 - 1 1/2 hours, shaking the pan occasionally (every 25 minutes or so) to move the chickpeas around the pan (the chickpeas around the edge of the pan will cook faster than those in the middle so you want to move them around).  Taste the chickpeas as they cook and remove them when they are crunchy (some might be a little chewier than others but thats okay).

You can flavor the chickpeas anyway you like - other seasonings suggestions are chili powder, celery salt, or garam masala, but you can really use anything you like. 

another brunch favorite - egg bakes

As I've said before, I love brunch.  It's the perfect way to see friends and relax and then either have the rest of the day to do something, or nap like I did last weekend.  Egg dishes are always popular at brunch, but what you dont want to be doing when everyone is relaxing is hanging out alone at the stove cooking individual fried eggs or making scrambled eggs that need to be eaten immediately when they get off the heat.  For brunch, you want foods that can stand to sit out at room temperature and taste just as good, if not better.  Egg bakes are a perfect food to make for brunch. Easy to throw together earlier in the morning, and just pop it in the oven when people are close to arriving.

Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Egg Bake
3 links of sausage (pork or chicken)
1 bunch broccoli rabe
1/2 large loaf of country or whole grain bread, ideally day old (you want it a little stale), cut into 1 inch cubes
8 large eggs, whisked
1/4 cup milk/cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt/ 1/2 tsp pepper

Take the sausage out of the casing and brown the sausage, breaking it up.  Once it is cooked through set it aside. In a large bowl whisk the eggs together with the milk or cream and add about 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.

Blanch the broccoli rabe first. Broccoli rabe is a bitter green and blanching helps take some of the bitterness out of it.  To blanch the broccoli rabe, bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil.  Heavily salt the water.  While the water is boiling set up an ice bath - a large bowl of water filled with ice.  Also heavily salt that water as well.  When the water is boiling, place the broccoli rabe in there for about 2 minutes (you don't want to keep it there very long and let it get overcooked).  Pull the broccoli rabe out of the boiling water and place it directly in the ice bath to cool off.

Once the broccoli rabe has cooled, drain it and wring out the extra water.  Chop the broccoli rabe into one inch pieces and set aside.  Add the broccoli rabe to the egg mixture.  Add the cubed bread, stirring as the bread starts to absorb the eggs.

Pour the egg mixture into a large baking dish (around 9 by 13 inches) that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  I had a little extra mozzarella cheese that I needed to use up so I cubed it and threw it in the mixture as well.

Bake for about 45-55 minutes, or until the eggs are fully cooked throughout.  About 50 minutes into the cooking process the entire dish was cooked except for the very middle.  If that happens to you, turn the broiler on and broil the egg bake for a minute or so, keeping a close eye on it so that the bread doesn't burn. 

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product - it was all gone pretty quick.  So simple and delicious. Here's what was left.

needing something healthy..

Last week after a gluttenous weekend full of chili and topped off with a visit to Chip Shop for some fried foods and desserts, on Monday we were in serious need of some healthy cooking.  When I want to eat really healthy I try to make some sort of substantive vegetarian dish.  A lot of times that means a veggie stir fry.  On Monday we didnt want to wait to for brown rice to cook (which takes close to an hour), so we made my version of veggie low-mein, using loads of fresh veggies and whole-wheat soba noodles.  It was delicious, and you can feel good about eating it (which you usually cant if you order any sort of low-mein from a Chinese restaurant). If you don't have soba noodles serve this over brown rice, which is what we usually do.

Everything cooks very quickly, so prep all of your ingredients first and have them ready to go so that you can throw everything in the wok when its time. If you don't have a wok use a large pan that can withstand high temperatures.

Veggie Stir Fry- Low Mein


1 head of broccoli, cut and steamed
1 onion, sliced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced on a diagonal
1 zucchini, sliced in half moons
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
3 scallions, white and light green parts sliced
1 tbsp vegetable oil
red chili flakes, to taste

1 can of water chestnut, sliced
1 can of baby corn

soba noodles, soaked in hot water until tender

for the sauce:
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp red chili paste
1 1/2 tbsp corn starch


Whisk together all of the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.  Cut all of the veggies that you will need and set them aside, ready to be used when needed.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok (or large sauté pan) until its shimmering over a high heat.  Add the garlic, ginger and as much red pepper flake as you like. Saute until fragrant but before the garlic starts to brown, stirring constantly (about 1-2 minutes).

Add the onion and sauté until its just about translucent, about 2-3 minutes.  Add the carrots and cook another 2-3 minutes.

Add the broccoli and zucchini and sauté all the veggies until they are cooked through, about 5-7 minutes more (this is why you need everything prepped and ready to go - it all happens fast!).  Add the water chestnuts and baby corn, tossing to heat through.

 Add the drained soba noodles to the mixture and toss to coat (if using brown rice then skip this step).  Whisk the sauce that you put together earlier (the cornstarch sits at the bottom so you need remix it).  Pour the sauce over the mixture and toss through.  Let the mixture heat up and boil a bit - that activates the cornstarch. Once it boils a little the sauce will start to get thick.  Continue to toss the sauce veggies and noodles, coating everything with the sauce. Once everything is coated and the sauce is thick- you're done! Top with the sliced scallions and serve with a little extra soy sauce if necessary.

chili coma

An update from this past weekend is clearly in order.  Thanks first off to all those who came to the NY Chili Cookoff! It was great seeing so many of our friends come help us out, cheer us on, and pose as strangers to rave about our chili in line :) The turnout for this years cookoff was HUGE. From 12-3pm we had a continuous line to taste our chili, and ended up getting information from four separate people who want to work something out where they buy our chili.  I see a catering business in my future...

Prize-wise we didnt win any chili categories, but we DID win second place for best booth/showmanship, so I'll take it.  We learned a lot actually cooking two chili's during the cookoff. It takes a lot more organization that even we realized, and we came away with a better game plan for the DC 101 Chili Cookoff that we are competing in on May 12th. While we were clearly upset that we didn't place in the chili categories, we did see some flaws in the chili that are going to be fixed for May.  We're changing up our recipe a little, which means more test batches will need to be made.  I might seriously enter into a chili coma...

So here is the first shout out to all those in the DC / Maryland area - PLEASE get tickets for the DC 101 Chili Cookoff!! It's a really fun time every year, and we can definitely use your help and support! A huge concert follows the cookoff - this year the headliners so far are Cake and Incubus.  Eat a lot of chili, drink a lot of beer, listen to music - what could be better?

let the hunger games begin...

Here's a little reminder that NY cookoff is this Saturday April 21st - whoever is free and in the area should stop by! Here is an article that was written about the event - looks like last years cookoff was even bigger than we realized. It's co-sponsored by the Bronx Brewery so we can pretty much guarantee there'll be day time drinking, and right now the forecast looks like it'll be party sunny and 72 during the day. Who wouldn't want to come to a chili cookoff ??  And if you go, you can give our team all your tokens that you are given to hand out to your favorite chili of the day....

http://www.silive.com/entertainment/dining/index.ssf/2012/04/the_hunger_games_on_staten_isl.html

Butternut Squash Risotto

I've always loved risotto. It's one of those meals that always seems very fancy and special, but is actually incredibly easy to make.  It's a little time consuming, but well worth it.  It's a classic comfort food.  Some recipes I've seen over the years say that it takes about 25 or so minutes to make risotto. That's a lie.  It doesnt. It'll take you a while to make risotto, but the majority of the time all you need to do is stir it every couple minutes and add more stock to the pan. That's it. It's not a meal to make when you cant spend some time in the kitchen and plan on being outside of the kitchen the whole time, but you don't need to stand over it the entire time. But you will need to stir the risotto; there's no way around it. Just accept it and move on.  Risotto becomes delicious and creamy when the starches in the rice are slowly released by the cooking process.

What's great about risotto is that it can be made with almost anything you have on hand.  The base recipe itself is very simple: arborio rice, stock, onion, wine, cheese.  Then you can add whatever flavors you want to it - favorites we have done are a roasted red pepper risotto, mushroom risotto, spring vegetable risotto (asparagus, peas,  mushroom), and a chicken and vegetable risotto.  Once you learn the way to make risotto you'll be able to switch up the recipe on your own anytime. This time I used butternut squash since I had some that needed to be used up.

Butternut Squash Risotto
1 butternut squash, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
olive oil, salt/pepper

2 tbsp butter, divided
1 cup arborio rice
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup dry white wine (something you would drink)
4-6 cups chicken or vegetable stock, preferably homemade
1/2 cup good grated parmigiana cheese

Steps
Toss the diced butternut squash with olive oil, salt and pepper and put on a sheet tray in a single layer.  Roast at 375 until the squash is tender, approximately 30 minutes. Toss about half way through to make sure the squash caramelizes evenly. Place the cooked squash in a bowl and set aside until later.

Heat up the chicken or vegetable stock in a sauce pan.  Keep it at a light simmer throughout the cooking process.

While the squash is roasting, melt the butter in a large pot  over medium high heat (I use a risotto dish made by Mario Batali, but you can use any good quality pot or a small dutch oven). Add the onion and saute until the onion becomes translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the rice and saute to coat each of the rice grains in butter, about 1-2 minutes.  Add the wine and begin to stir the risotto.  Lower the heat to between medium and medium low.

Stir the rice every minute or so a few times around the pan. Once the rice absorbs almost all the wine, add 2 ladle fulls of warm stock into the pan.  Continue to stir the risotto every minute or so.  If while you stir it seems like the rice is sticking to the pot, you need to lower the temperature and keep a closer eye on the risotto, stirring it more.

The rice will absorb the stock you add.  You will continue the process of adding stock to the pan, stirring, and letting the water absorb the stock while continuing to stir it.  Generally, a good time to add stock is when you can run you spoon across the bottom of the pan and you can see the bottom of the pan for a second, like this:

Some recipes say this process will finish with three total additions of stock to the risotto - that's a lie! Sometimes it takes about 4 cups, sometimes it takes about 6 cups of stock.  If you realize that as you are cooking you might need more liquid than what you have simmering, add more stock or a little water.

Taste the risotto throughout this process - you'll be able to tell when the risotto is done.  Risotto rice should have a tiny bite to it still, but should be a creamy texture. It shouldn't be total mush, but it should be much softer than the usual rice you eat.  Then again, it's all up to you - if you like a risotto where the rice has more of a bite to it, then cook if for a shorter amount of time.

Once the risotto has reached your desired level of done-ness (for me, that's usually about 45-50 minutes of cooking), turn off the heat.  Add all the butternut squash to the pan and stir it around to combine. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter and stir into the risotto. Finally, add the parmigiana cheese and stir to combine.

Serve topped with some cubed butternut squash and more a little more parmigiana cheese on top.

DIY pizza

Homemade pizza is such an easy, fun thing to make.  You can top it with anything and feel good about eating pizza for dinner.  Usually when making pizza at home I will just pick up a ball of dough from my local pizza place -- you can usually buy a ball of dough for somewhere between $3-$5 depending on where you live. I've been on a big kick recently of using whole wheat flour and trying to reduce the amount of white flour that I eat on a  daily basis.  That in mind, I decided to try to make whole wheat pizza dough to use instead of buying the regular white dough that's usually used.  I've noticed that a lot of whole wheat bread/dough recipes use a mixture of whole wheat and regular white flour.  Whole wheat flour on its own is very tough and can be a little too dense for day to day purposes.  Combining it with white flour helps keep the dough light but gives you extra health benefits of using whole wheat flour.

I found a recipe online and decided to try it.  It takes a few steps but is really easy.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tbsp dry active yeast (one package)
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups white flour


In a large bowl dissolve the sugar into the warm water.  Sprinkle the yeast over the water and allow it to sit about 10 minutes until it starts to get frothy. It should look something like this:

Once the yeast gets frothy add the salt and olive oil to the mixture and stir to combine.  In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add all the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the white flour.  Add the water/yeast mixture and start to combine on the lowest setting on the machine.  After a minute or so add the remaining 1/2 cup of the white flour. Let the dough hook do all the work for you and knead the dough for about 5 minutes, until the dough ball is smooth (if you don't have a stand mixer, knead the dough by hand on a lightly floured surface until smooth).

Place the dough into a medium sized bowl that has been oiled. Turn the dough to coat it with the oil, and place a clean kitchen towel over the bowl.  Leave it sitting in a warm place in your kitchen (I leave it near the oven) for about 1 hour.  The dough should just about double in size.

Punch the dough down and then dump it onto a lightly floured surface.

How you divide the dough depends on how many people you are making pizza (or calzones) for.  For two people, I divide the ball of dough into four pieces.  One piece makes one thin crust pizza for two, that takes up one pizza stone. If you make calzones, you can cut the dough into eights, or cut one of the quarters into half. The dough freezes great, so put three of the dough balls in the freezer and then roll one out to use that night (or freeze all four).  Roll the dough out and make it cover as much of the pizza stone as you can, like this (this is one quarter of the dough):

One of the best things about homemade pizza is that you can top it with anything you want.  On the pizza we made below, we brushed the crust with olive oil and sprinkled it with chopped garlic.  We thinly sliced zucchini and almost covered the pizza with zucchini slices.  We then dropped little mounds of fresh ricotta cheese over the pizza, sprinkled some chopped kalamata olives over it, and topped the entire thing with a little shredded mozzarella. Another favorite pizza uses tomato sauce, thinly sliced fennel and onion, and sausage, topped with mozzarella. Use whatever you like and whatever you have on hand.

Bake the pizza in your oven on the highest temperature it goes (mine goes to 550) on a pizza stone if you have it or a baking sheet if you dont have a stone. Cook the pizza until all the cheeses you use are melted and the crust has gotten crisyp.  Delicious!

Calling all New York and New Jersey'ers...

Maryland MANS Chili has officially been accepted to the New York Cookoff, being held on Saturday April 21.  Anyone and everyone can be there should come by to support our team and sample some delicious chili.  It's from 12-4pm in Staten Island in Old Richmondtown, rain or shine (but hopefully no rain). It should be a really fun event - it's our first year entering this one so I don't know many details, but you're guaranteed to taste many delicious chilis and have a great day - there'll be music and entertainment set up as well. But clearly you should come to support our team and help us win the People's Choice award among the other awards we plan on winning. It will be exciting for our team since this will be the first time that we are competing in the ICS chili competition, making the red and green chili on site.

Click here for more information and details.

Hope to see you all there! 

Taco Night

An easy, quick and healthy dinner option is fish tacos.  You can pretty much do them with any fish that you like - I like using a mild white fish like halibut, tilapia, or cod.  The entire dish can be done when you get home from work - it just takes a few steps to go through. This recipe is for two people, but can easily be doubled or tripled.

Fish Tacos with Cabbage Slaw
1/2 of a small head of cabbage, shredded, or 1/4 of a large head of cabbage, shredded
1/4 jalapeño, finely diced
1 small orange, juiced
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
splash of extra virgin olive oil

1/2 pound of white fish, such as cod
1 lime and 1 lemon, each zested
1/2 lime, juiced
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (can be skipped if you don't have this, but I suggest getting it so that you have it on hand)
1/2 a jalapeño, thinly sliced
splash of extra virgin olive oil

Extra toppings:
diced mango
diced tomato
red onion
diced avocado

To make the slaw...
Combine the shredded cabbage, diced jalapeño and chopped cilantro in a large bowl.  Add the orange juice, lemon juice, and a splash of extra virgin olive oil. Add a large pinch of salt (about 1 tsp) and some fresh cracked pepper. Toss the slaw together and then put it in the fridge to sit - anywhere from 1/2 an hour to a few hours.

For the fish tacos...
In a small wide bowl combine the lemon zest and juice and the lime zest and juice. Add the smoked paprika and a large pinch of salt and fresh pepper.  Add the sliced jalapeño. Add a splash of olive oil and whisk to combine.

Thinly slice the fish (about 1/4 an inch thick). Add to the bowl and toss to coat. Let the fish marinate anywhere from a few minutes up to 1/2 an hour - you don't want to let it go too much longer than that as the citrus juices will begin to cook the outside of the fish.

Place the fish on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper and sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake the fish at 350 for approximately 10 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through.  Load your taco shells with the fish, cabbage slaw, and assorted toppings. Serve extra slaw on the side to eat with the tacos.

brunch favorites

Brunch is something that makes everyone happy - it's an excuse to have friends over during the day, and day drinking is completely acceptable at that time.  Brunch is a great way to entertain your friends with easy, inexpensive dishes. One of my absolute favorite brunch dishes is a creme brulee french toast.  I originally followed a Barefoot Contessa recipe closely - overtime I've adapted the recipe a bit and changed some parts of it, but the base is still the same. Thanks Ina - this may be one of the most popular things I've ever made.  This dish is great because not only is it incredibly easy to make, you make it the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight so in the morning  all you need to do is pop it out of the fridge, let it sit out for 30 minutes to get to room temperature, and then bake it off. This is a recipe you need to try.

Creme Brulee French Toast
1 stick of butter
1 cup of brown sugar, packed
1 loaf of challah bread, but into 1- 1/12 inch slices (I left the crust on, but you can take the crust off if you want. It's even better if the bread is a little stale)
6 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups half and half (I use fat-free half and half - it tastes the same here)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 -2 tsps either: grand marnier, triple sec, godiva chocolate liquor, or butterscotch schnapps (I usually use triple sec since I always have that on hand. When I have it on  hand, I like to use either chocolate liquor or butterscotch schnapps as the liquor in this)
pinch of salt

Directions
Melt the butter and brown sugar in a small sauce pan. Stir frequently until the brown sugar and butter are totally combined and the mixture looks like melted caramel.  Pour the caramel mixture into the bottom of a 13 x 9 sized baking dish (or a dish that similarly sized).

Take the pieces of challah and place them over the caramel.  Cut the pieces as necessary to make them fit, making sure that the bottom of the dish is completely covered. You can add a second layer of challah to use up the bread. Press the bread down into the dish.

Combine the eggs, half and half, vanilla, cinnamon and liquor.  Pour the mixture over the bread.  Press the  bread down, helping the bread soak up the egg mixture.  The dish will look like it has too much egg mixture in there but it's fine.  Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge overnight.

The next morning take the french toast out of the fridge 1/2 an hour before you start cooking it.  Once it sits at room temperature for 1/2 an hour, place the baking dish on a larger sheet pan in case it bubbles over.  Bake the french toast at 350 for approximately 40 minutes, or until the edges are getting golden brown and the middle is puffed up.

This is delicious on its own. If you REALLY want to impress people, make the sauce below to pour over the french toast:

Combine 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup brown sugar in a small sauce pan over medium heat.  Add a 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Whisk until the cream heats up and the sugar melts into it.  Drizzle the sauce over each serving of the french toast.

charter chilihead

As chili cookoffs are rapidly approaching, I'm spending each weekend making test batches of chili in preparation.  This weekend was the first time attempting to make both red and green chili at the same time, both with a 3 hour time frame from start to finish.  We are getting there flavor wise for our chili. Wondering what it tastes like? Well - you can taste it yourself! While I am still waiting for the official confirmation, everyone should plan on attending the New York Chili Cookoff on April 21st in Staten Island and support our team.  Here is a picture of my official scroll, proclaiming me a chili head:

I'll be back to posting recipes this week. I've been lazy, I know - I'll be better :)

get excited...

It's arrived! I am now a legitimate member of the International Chili Society.  I received my bylaws, a proclamation proclaiming me a "Charter Chilihead", and a membership card in the mail. Yes, I'm that awesome.  So what does being a member of ICS entail? It means that now, when our amazing chili cook off team, Maryland MANS Chili, enters into competitions, if we happen to win a competition we are guaranteed entry into the World Championship Chili Cook-off.

We are expanding the amount of cook-offs that we enter - in addition to the DC 101 Chili Cookoff that we are competing in May 12th, we are also entering into the New York Chili Cookoff, which will be held in glorious Staten Island on Saturday April 21st.   We are entering into the red chili, green chili, and salsa competitions.  I encourage you all to come and support our team! It should be a fun day, filled with chili, chili, and more chili!

So far we've tried out making our first batch of green chili. While it wasn't perfect, I think it's a winner and see great things for it. Anyone who wants to come down to Bay Ridge and be a chili taster you let me know...

fresh and fruity

This weekend Steve and I had a little celebration for our 30th birthdays.  As usual, in my family, I acted as bartender for part of the evening.  I stole a drink idea from one of our favorite bars in Boston, aptly named Drink. It's one of those bars where you can tell the bartenders the type of alcohol you like and what you are in the mood for and they make you exactly what you want.  I walked in there wanting a vodka drink (of course), that was floral and fruity. Here's what they came up with, and what I made this weekend. Warning - they are much more potent than they taste.

2 parts vodka
2 parts fresh grapefruit juice
1 part St. Germain elderflower liquor
1 part simple syrup (see my prior post about sangria for the recipe for simple syrup here)

Combine all the ingredients in a large pitcher.  Shake each drink individually in a cocktail shaker with ice, then pour into martini glasses.

It's a great summertime drink, party drink... really it's an anytime drink. Enjoy!

back to basics - salad dressing

Salad dressing is probably one of the first things I started making on my own.  I've never been a huge fan of bottled dressings, thinking they either too heavy or too caloric to be worthwhile.  Eating a salad at a restaurant always tasted better, where the dressing was fresh. However, the dressings you get in restaurants are often incredibly caloric, using a three-to-one ration of oil to vinegar/acid. I prefer a more acidic dressing, or diluting the sharp vinegar tones with something like honey to make the dressing more well-rounded, instead of doubling or tripling the amount of olive oil involved. Once you start making your own dressing, you'll be amazed at how easy it is, and how your salads start tasting better.

Lemon Vinaigrette
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp honey/agave

Combine the lemon juice, salt, pepper and honey in a small bowl.  Slowly whisk in the olive oil. That's it!

You can do endless variations - substitute the lemon juice for any sort of vinegar (balsamic, red wine, apple cider, sherry). You can also add in 1 tsp of mustard to the vinaigrette to give it a little more of a bit and make it a little heartier.  The salt here is very important - without putting enough salt in your dressing your entire salad will be lacking in flavor.  After you're done combining the ingredients, make sure you taste the dressing. If you think it's too sharp, you can add more olive oil or add a bit more honey to mellow out the flavors. Whichever flavor you chose, all you need to do each time is do two parts acid to one part extra virgin olive oil to make a healthy, bright dressing for whatever you chose to put it over.

Note: the lemon vinaigrette above also works great over seafood, such as steamed or roasted fish, or on roasted chicken to add a punch of flavor. 

healthy side dishes

There are always different food trends - foods that are touted as being the best for you, foods that are all the rage right now.  One food that has been turning up on menus all over the place is kale.  I just started cooking with it within the last year, I think as a result of having some turn up in a farm share we were a part of.  Kale is a dark, tough green that raw is very bitter.  I've started making it in a few ways.  One way is to cook the kale and wilt it lightly in olive oil.  Salt and pepper the kale, and cook until its desired taste.  The other way is to wilt it with an acid, like lemon juice. This is what I do the majority of the time. 

When you get kale from the store it comes in large bunches.  Either way that you cook the kale, the prep is the same.  Each leave of kale has a large, thick rib down the center. You want to pull the leaves away from the rib and toss those - they're too tough and fibrous to eat. 

Wilted Kale Salad

1 head of kale, leaves removed from the the ribs, thinly sliced

2 tbs lemon juice

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp honey or agave

1 large beet, roasted and sliced (wash the beet and wrap it in aluminum foil - you don't need to peel it. roast the beet at 375 until a fork stuck in the beet is easily removed - depending on the size of the beet this could take anywhere from 30 - 60 min)

3-4 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds, walnuts, or almonds

In a large bowl whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, honey/agave, along with some salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat 1-2 tsps olive oil in a large sauté pan.  Toss the cut up kale in the olive oil until it get coated in the oil and just barely starts to wilt - about 2-3 minutes.  Put the kale in the bowl with the lemon vinaigrette and toss to coat the kale with the dressing.  Place on the counter top or in the fridge for 1/2 hour.

When you're ready to eat, toss the roasted beet with the kale and taste for seasoning - the kale may need extra salt.  Add the pumpkin seeds or nuts and toss again. Serve. 

This is just a base recipe - you can easily adapt this to use whatever you have in your fridge. It's great with a fruit like nectarine or mango chopped up in there, or something more savory like roasted cubed butternut squash.  Instead of a lemon vinaigrette you can use any fresh dressing you like - today when we ate this salad I made a dressing using sherry vinegar, and used roasted butternut squash, dried cranberries and walnuts with the kale. 

back to basics - perfect pesto

Another basic recipie that can be changed to suit your day to day tastes is pesto.  Everyone loves the classic pesto - basil, parmigiana cheese, pine nuts, and olive oil, but there are many variations you can make using the same basic recipe. All you need for a pesto is some sort of green, some sort of nut, cheese, and olive oil.

This week for a vegetarian "meatball" recipe we made a watercress pesto - and by we, I mean Steve.  It was incredibly simple and tasted amazing - a nice variation on the regular basil pesto that we've all used before.

Chunky Watercress Pesto
One bunch watercress
1/4 cup toasted walnuts
salt/pepper
olive oil - about 1/4 cup
1/4 cup parmigiana cheese
1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions: Thoroughly wash the watercress and spin dry.  Place the watercress and toasted walnuts in a food processor and let them go until completely combined and chopped up finely.  While the food processor is on, slowly stream in the olive oil.  The 1/4 cup is just an approximation on how much to use. I don't like to add too much oil to my pesto in an effort to keep it healthier. The pesto should be completely combined but still pretty thick at this point.  Add in salt and pepper to taste and the cheese - pulse to combine.  Add in the lemon juice and let it puree a second to thin it out a bit.

We used the pesto in its thicker form, on top of lentil meatballs. If you want the sauce thinner you can add more olive oil or thin it out with water or chicken stock. If you are using this for pasta, toss the pasta in the thick pesto, and then slowly add pasta water to the mixture until the sauce is your desired thickness.

Variations
Substitute the following for watercress to make a pesto: basil, spinach, mint, arugula, or any light green that you like - use about 2 cups worth of either of these greens (or a combination, like spinach basil), and use 1/4 cup of some sort of toasted nuts (walnuts, pine nuts, slivered almonds).  Follow the directions above to complete the pesto.