19 Jan
Two + feet of snow on the ground, crickets chirping in the world of wedding catering…time, lots and lots of time…knead and rise.
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I wanted to make a quick easy bread so I pulled down my bag of King Arthur Unbleached Flour and on the back was a recipe for oatmeal bread. I didn’t have anything in particular in mind so decided to try it. Easiest bread ever. Buy a 5lb bag of King Arthur’s Unbleached Flour and give it a go for yourself!
6 Dec
My knee surgery kept me out and Frank (aka Eeyore) in the kitchen for two weeks. Finally liberated from my crutches, I decided to tackle an easy one pot dish. We had frozen our leftover turkey from Thanksgiving so I thought I would put it to good use in a creamy chili. A decently stocked pantry made this chili uber simple and gave us tons of leftovers. I love cookbooks but it seems whenever I’m cooking I inevitably just throw something together without even a blink in the direction of Giada, Ina, Marcella, or Bittman. This is one such dish. Try it if you dare.
Creamy Chicken Chili
makes enough for at least 8 bowls of hot comfort tummyliciousness
Ingredients
1 lb of cooked chicken or turkey meat off the bone (Give yourself a break, pick up a rotisserie chicken at the store. Pick the meat off but add the bones right into the chili with your stock.)
1 can of black beans
1 can of red kidney beans
1 can of diced tomatoes with chilis
3 tbsp tomato paste
2 quarts chicken stock
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 cup brown rice
1 tbsp of chili powder
1 tsp each salt and pepper
3 cloves garlic
3 sprigs of thyme, rosemary, and one bay leaf tied together with twine
cayenne or pepperoncini to taste
8 oz of heavy cream (optional)
3 oz of gorgonzola crumbles (optional)
Directions
Other than the onions, the great thing about this chili is there is virtually zero cooking involved. Just heat everything through and let it do it’s thing for as long as you have time. Because the longer it goes the yummier it is, use a slow-cooker if you have one.
Heat the slow-cooker on high for 15 min with the lid on. Cook the diced onions until soft. Add the spices and cook for several minutes then add the tomato paste and cook for another five minutes. Add the diced tomatoes, stock (bones can go in and be pulled out later), chicken and herbs. Continue cooking on high until the liquid begins to simmer. Add the rice and stir.
Using a blender or food processor, puree half of each of the cans of beans. Add the pureed beans and the remaining whole beans to the pot. The pureed beans add a thick creamy texture that makes this chili even more hearty. Continue cooking on low until you’re ready to serve.
A few minutes before you bowl it up add the heavy cream and gorgonzola if you choose. Blue cheese kinda freaks people out but seriously it is soooo good in this chili and adding just that cup of cream makes it all the more heavenly. I went all Panera Bread on us and toasted a couple of bread bowls to serve them in. It’s warm, it’s cozy, it’s creamy chicken chili! Um, turkey.
23 Nov
One week removed from knee surgery and my culinary creations have included making popcorn for lunch and prepping some garlic for dinner. It’s not easy to go from 8+ hours a day with my hands in food to virtually zero. And with Thanksgiving approaching – the mother of all American cooking days – I’m having some serious cooking withdrawals! Thankfully, I’m in good hands. My dear husband is cooking our holiday meal in two days and although I might have went a little overboard with our menu, I know he’ll be up to the challenge. My ace in the hat is sending him to www.doitdelicious.com where cookbook author Jessica Seinfeld offers recipes and cooking knowledge within fun, simple, and easy to understand videos. Last night, I inhaled Jessica’s delicious sweet cherry tomato pasta made by my sweet Frank – albeit as I called from the living room every two minutes to “check” on how things were going. It will be a few more weeks before I’m upright in front of the stove, getting back to what I love to do most. Until then, I’ll pass the wooden spoon to my beloved and try and keep my mouth shut. Wait, that won’t work on a number of levels.
Recipe courtesy www.doitdelicious.com
Start boiling your water. Cook pasta according to the package directions. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and basil, and cook, stirring, for 15 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook, covered, for 8 minutes. Remove cover and continue to cook, stirring, until the tomatoes split. Your pasta should be about done. Drain it. Toss the pasta with the tomatoes and stir in the ricotta and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Serve sprinkled with the extra basil.
In trying to clean out our refridgerator I asked Frank to cut up eight slices of turkey bacon and brown that with the garlic. He set it aside then added it back at the end. We also had 1/2 cup of black olives we threw in there with the tomatoes and we opted for whole wheat spaghetti. Not only did he do it delicious, he did it with love! Awwwww…
17 Nov
About ten days removed from our latest trip to Italy and I find myself reluctant to think of it as a memory, wanting to keep it in the present for as long as possible. Today I’m thinking of the popular pre-dinner haunts in Venice known as cicchetti bars. From hole in the wall dives in alleyways to modern, chic and brightly lit bars on the primary streets they are something not to be missed. Platters upon platters of scrumptious little bites greet you as you approach the bar. Order an ombra (a small 4 oz glass of house red or white wine) for a mere euro or less, then just point to each delectable thing that calls your name. We stopped in two different cicchetti bars in Venice and one in Verona. Some featured deep fried baccala fritters and salumi, others marinated octopus and vegetables. When you’ve had enough the bacaro will tally up your order and you’ll walk away only a few euros the poorer and wondering why you were ever going to dinner in the first place.
8 Nov
Was it just yesterday that I was standing on a terrace awestruck at the olive groves and terra cotta roofs in front of me? Why yes, yes it was. I’m not a writer so I have zero clue how to put into words the nine days of bliss I just experienced. For now I’ll just tell a few stories that happened along the way.
In a prior post I mentioned how I had been to Venice before but did not visit the iconic tourist spot, Harry’s Bar. A couple of dear friends encouraged me to set aside my anti-tourist pride and venture inside. Actually, we squeezed inside. Harry’s bar is t-i-n-y. I watched dumbfounded as the waiters maneuvered as if on tight ropes between those of us standing at the bar and the seated patrons. We finally managed to make eye contact with the slightly bored looking bartender to order our bubbly and crisp, fruity Bellinis. It was hard to drag out a 8oz drink into much more than five minutes of parlaying, so we finished and went to pay our bill. $42 dollars later, I shuffled out numb and confused. My husband was laughing hysterically while I kept mumbling, “30 euros. Did we just pay 30 euros for a drink?” A few minutes later we pass a shop selling Christmas decorations. Says my beloved, “We should buy an ornament.” Me, “I just drank my ornament.”
Actual photo of said 30 euro drink
26 Oct
We are mere days away until we arrive in the “Beautiful Country”. In an obsurdly odd way something inside of me has that tingly anticipation of returning home. How does a place graft itself into our hearts? I didn’t choose Italy, Italy chose me. It was as if my heart had no say in the matter. I would love it, and that’s just the way it was going to be.
So, I return to my love with my love and we write the next chapter. Or, it writes us.
Exterior photo of our Venetian apartment
15 Oct
Fall. Apples. Pie. It has to begin here.
I’m not much of a baker so I decided to let the cooking lab rats over at America’s Test Kitchen hammer out the perfect recipe. I used the apples from our orchard picking day which included Macintosh, Cortland, and Golden Delicious. I loved the combination of sweet and tart plus the Macintosh broke down nicely to give that perfect saucy goodness. Because I panicked and didn’t add the last two cups of apples (the mound was already nine inches high!) the crust formed beautifully, however as the apples cooked down it created a hollow cavern. It would have benefitted from a deep dish pie pan which I didn’t have, to fit all of the apples. The slice wasn’t cover shoot worthy but the flavor of the tart, sweet, warm filling and texture of the buttery, delicate, flaky crust was oh-so-eyes-closed-mmmmmm-goodness.
For the crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces and chilled
6 to 8 tablespoons ice water
For the pie
2 pounds (4 to 6) Mclntosh apples , peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 1/2 pounds (3 to 4) Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 recipe Double-Crust Pie Dough, bottom crust fit into pie plate
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2. Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of the ice water over the mixture. Stir and press the dough together, using a stiff rubber spatula until the dough sticks together. If the dough does not come together, stir in the remaining water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does.
3. Divide the dough into two even pieces and flatten each into a 4-inch disk. Wrap the disks tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Let the chilled dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling it out and fitting the bottom crust into a pie plate.
To make ahead: The dough can be refrigerated, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Let the frozen dough thaw on the countertop until malleable before rolling.
Make the pie
1. Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position, place a rimmed baking sheet on the rack, and heat the oven to 500°F (260°C). Toss the apples with cup of the sugar, the flour, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and spices, and set aside.
2. Roll out the top crust to a 12-inch circle. Spread the apples in the unbaked pie crust bottom, mounding them slightly in the middle. Loosely roll the top crust around the rolling pin, then gently unroll it over the apples. Trim all but 1/2-inch of the dough overhanging the edge of the pie plate with scissors. Seal the edge by pressing the top and bottom crusts together, then tuck the edges underneath. Crimp the edges, and cut four vent holes in the top. Brush the crust with the egg white and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar.
3. Place the pie on the heated baking sheet and lower the oven temperature to 425°F (220°C). Bake until the top crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet, reduce the oven temperature again to 375°F (190°C), and continue to bake until the juices are bubbling and the crust is deep golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes longer. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and cool to room temperature before serving.
To make ahead: The pie can be stored at room temperature, wrapped tightly in aluminum foil, for up to 2 days.
Recipe © 2005 The Editors at America’s Test Kitchen. All rights reserved.
13 Oct
O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Next to wandering through Italy, there is nothing I enjoy more than soaking in the splendor of a New England Autumn. I always keep plenty of lip gloss handy for I can’t go ten feet without sneaking a sweet smooch with Eeyore. It’s my version of a dog “marking” his territory. Thought I’d share a few of our markings…
10 lbs of apples…where to begin?…
4 Oct
After a crazy wedding catering season, the brides are finally at bay. This month my work calendar is in decline while my travel calendar is on the rise including weekends in NYC, Maine, NH, and a 10 day romp through northern Italy. While my Queens-less Oklahomanglish will bode me just find in the land of “Yo, Adrian’s” and “wicked smaaaht”, it would behoove me to turn my focus to the dusty verb study guides and Italian grammar books strewn throughout our house.
It’s been a year since my last Italian language class and two years since I was in Italy. While I was never close to being fluent, I could stumble my way through a conversation, albeit with a three year old’s tongue. I have no idea how the language part of the brain works; somewhere a switch is flipped in my head and out flows my elementary Italian. Per esempio, at work we have a dishwasher from El Salvador and a prep cook from Belarus with whom I astonish with my Italian answers to their heavily accented English questions. They promptly stop what they are doing and stare at me with incomprehension afterwhich I apologize in our common language and scold the left side of my brain for it’s schizophrenia. Che pazzo!
26 Sep
Living along the east coast I’ve become accustomed to buying fresh yummy things that swim. On a recent trip to Oklahoma, I was reminded of the shopping limitations that come with living in a landlocked state. Staring at a sad little 6oz package of “crab” meat at the grocery store, I needed to find an alternative without sacrificing my taste for something from the sea. Enter the cod.
Cod Cakes
serves 4
10oz cod
1/4 each red, yellow, and orange sweet peppers, finely diced
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
1/4 cup of capers, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup parsely, chopped
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs, plus extra for dredging
2 tbsp olive oil
Citrus Aioli
1/2 cup of mayonaisse
the zest plus 2 tbsp juice from one orange, lemon, and lime
dash of salt and pepper
For the aioli: combine in a bowl then hold in the refrigerator until service
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the cod on a sheet pan, lightly drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast just until slightly undercooked, 7-8min, depending on thickness of the fillet. Do not overcook since you will be pan frying the cakes later on to finish the cod.
Finely dice the peppers, red onion, and parsely. Place in a bowl and combine the rest of the ingredients, making sure to fully incorporate the egg and mayo into the mixture. Once the cod is cool enough to handle, flake it with a fork. Gently add the fish to the cake mixture, being careful to maintain the integrity of the fish.
Sprinkle 1 cup of panko onto a plate. Once you feel all is mixed well, begin forming the cakes into palm sized patties about 1/2″ thick and press both sides into the panko to form a crust. Heat the 2 tbsp of olive oil in a nonstick or stainless steel skillet over medium heat. Pan fry the cakes for 2-3 min on both sides until the exterior is golden brown. Serve with the citrus aioli accompanied by a light salad and lots of girl time.
