Thanksgiving...a few days late

How did your Thanksgiving go?  Get all of your favorite Turkey Day foods?  I did!

We brined the turkey this year, and I'm now officially in love with brined poultry.  I have an awesome recipe that I'll post later this week.

Can you believe it's December?  Where did the year go?

Garlic, Rosemary Potatoes

I was watching the Food Network the other day, I can't remember who it was.

But they were making these really pretty potatoes.  So I decided that I'd make them, but with a twist.  They were using just plain old butter and salt.

But I thought about garlic and rosemary and olive oil.  I love when you can look at something and put your own twist on it.  And when they turn out delicious, it's even better!

What you'll need:

6 new potatoes

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons rosemary, chopped

How you do it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Clean potatoes. Make several horizontal slices across the potato, making sure not to cut all the way through.

Mix together olive oil, garlic and rosemary in a bowl.

Take a spoon and drizzle oil mixture into the slices of the potato.

Bake for 50 minutes or until the potato is soft in the middle.

Delicious! 

Pound Cake

There's something so yummy in the simplicity of pound cake.

It's pretty simple to make.  

It has less than 10 ingredients.  

It smells delicious.

You'll make your mom really happy if you make her one.

It's really easy to eat.

Warm pound cake with a scoop of cold ice cream.  Nothin can beat it.

What you'll need*:

1 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

3 cups white sugar

5 eggs

1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup milk

3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

How you do it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 2 loaf pans (or a 10 inch Bundt pan). Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture and alternate with the milk. Pour batter into prepared pan(s).

If using the loaf pans, bake for 45 -55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

If using the Bundt pan, bake for 80 to 90 minutes, or until a toothipick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Once completely cooled, they can be frozen.

Sometimes, I wish this blog could be scratch-n-sniff.

*original recipe can be found here.

Imo's Pizza, Make It a St. Louis Night!

Remember the toasted ravs post?  Well, I decided to pair them up with a homemade Imo's pizza and make it a St. Louis night.

I was in serious heaven.  Imo's pizzas are a love/hate kind of thing.  You either love 'em or you hate 'em.  And I love them.

I was so happy when I found the recipe online!  And you know what, it's super easy and it tastes exactly like an Imo's pizza.

You can find the recipie for the crust, sauce, cheese and seasoning here.

Toasted Ravs

Toasted Ravioli (also known as Toasted Ravs and MM-MM Good).  If you've never had one, you've probably never been to St. Louis. And you're most definitely missing out.

What you need:

Fresh Beef Ravioli

1 Egg, beaten

1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1 cup lard

Tomato sauce for dipping

How you do it:

Dip the ravioli in the egg and then cover with the bread crumbs.  Heat lard in pan.  (You could also use a deep fryer.)  Place ravs in lard and fry until both sides are brown.  Serve with a warm tomato sauce, for dipping.

Eat and Enjoy!

Ferrara

If you are ever in New York, you need to go to Ferrara.  It should be your first stop.

And you should go in.  Try not to confuse the take-out line with the seating line.  Get a table. Look at all the wonderful, amazing treats displayed. 

And then order a tiramisu and a tiramisu martini.

And then try, just try to stop the unresistible moan as you taste a little bit of heaven on earth.

And this is no exaggeration.  It's that good.

Ferrara Bakery & Cafe

195 Grand Street (b/t Mulberry and Mott)

New York, Ny 10013 

Risotto 101

I've always wanted to make a homemade risotto.  Well, maybe not always, but recently.  I found a really easy, straight forward recipe by Giada.

Oh my goodness was it good!  It was creamy and buttery and delicious!

But something to note about risotto...it takes time and patience and stirring. 

Lots of butter, too.  Not this much butter, but a lot.

And more stirring. You can't really leave the pot's side.  You should have a glass of wine handy.

Recipie from Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis

What you"ll need:

4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

3 Tbls butter

3/4 cup finely chopped onion (from 1 onion)

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

How you do it:

In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a simmer.  Cover the broth and keep hot over low heat.

In a large, heavy saucepan, melt 2 Tbls of the butter of medium heat.  Add the onion and suate until tender but not brown, about 3 minutes.  Add the rice and stir to coat with butter.  Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 3 minutes.  Add 1/2 cup of simmering broth and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes.  Continue coking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes total.  Remove from the heat.  Stir in the Parmesan cheese, the remaining tablespoon of butter, and the salt and pepper.  Transfer the risotto to a serving bowl and serve immediately.

I added some chopped mushrooms and it was delicious!  

I added them a little bit after the onions.

Life's Many Distractions

I'm back...I think.  I've been distracted.  Distracted by moving across several states, from New York to Georgia. Distracted by Chickens.  Distracted by job searching.  Distracted by laziness. 

You want to meet my chickens, The Originals? 

This is Bob, formally known as Barbie (aka BBQ).

Bob here was supposed to be a hen.  But he started crowing and hens don't crow.

So Bob had to leave; he was sent to a farm with 8 other hens.  Bob is probably in rooster heaven.  And see the two golden chickens (Tori - Chicken Cacciatore, and Sally - Chicken Salad) in the background?  They were supposed to be hens too.  But guess what?  After Bob left, they started crowing.  And you know what happens to a crowing hen?

They get sent to a farm, where they can crow there little hearts out.  And believe me they do, and it's not just in the morning, it's all day long.  

See the black chicken in the middle?  That's Stewie (Chicken Stew).  The only chick with a boy name turned out to be the only hen, go figure.  Stewie is the only "Original" one left in our little flock.  We added two more chickens, The Crispys and went back for 4 more, The Extra Crispys.  I'll introduce them later.

Pasta Salad

Remember this post?

You can use the same dressing, substitute the capers for roasted red peppers and make an amazing pasta salad. Now this, I took to the picnic. And I didn't take home much leftovers.

What you'll need:

1 box bow tie pasta

1 tablespoon fresh Italian parsley

1 medium red onion

3 slices roasted red pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup oil

1 cup apple vinegar 

How you do it:

Boil the pasta according to the directions on the box. Then run the noodles under cool water. Chop the onion, pepper and parsley and mix with the pasta. Mix vinegar, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl; after they are well mixed, add the oil and stir well. Pour the dressing over the pasta and onions. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Um, so this was so good and I was in such a hurry...that I didn't take a picture of the final product. Woops! It's above, under tinfoil, in the white bowl.

Potato Salad

I almost made this dish for my picnic, but I was too lazy to boil the potatoes. And it was already too hot in my kitchen.
But the great thing about potato salad is that you can make it the night before. It's actually better. The vinegar and oil have time to really soak into the potatoes and red onions.

It was so good, it's all I ate for lunch...

What you"ll need:

1 pound small potatoes

1 tablespoon fresh Italian parsley

1 tablespoon capers

1 medium red onion

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup oil

1 cup apple vinegar

How you do it:

Boil the potatoes until soft, but not too soft. Drain them and run under cool water. Peel the potatoes and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Chop the onion and parsley and mix with the potatoes. Mix vinegar, salt, pepper and capers together in a small bowl; after they are well mixed, add the oil and stir well. Pour the dressing over the potatoes and onions. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Bruchetta on Pizza

Did you make this chicken? If not, you should. And then you should put the leftovers on a pizza. It was truly amazing!

What you'll need:

Leftover Bruchetta Chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces

Fresh Mozzarella

Fresh Bruchetta

Pizza Dough

2 Garlic cloves, minced

How you'll do it:

I used the Pillsbury pizza dough, so I followed the directions on the can. I placed it on an ungreased cookie sheet, added slices of fresh mozzarella and the garlic. I then cooked it, as the instructions said, for about 13 minutes. I then added the leftover bruchetta chicken and the fresh bruchetta and cooked it for another 5 minutes.

I then cut it and ate it.

A Picnic in the City

New York may lack green space, but we don't lack picnics. My roommates and I have had two in the last two weeks. The weather here has been pretty good during the weekends. The rain has finally stopped. At least, for the moment.

The thing about picnics, is that there is always something going on besides what's happening with your friends. There are people playing catch, frisbee, and all sorts of lawn games.

And in New York, we didn't experience ants. We got pigeons, lots and lots of pigeons.

And we had all sorts of food. It ranged from Jell-O shots, to pasta salad to different types of humus and red velvet cake. It was truly a New York experience.

And of course, there are the people. The people make the party.

But don't forget about the pigeons. They won't let you forget!
I'll be sharing some recipes from this picnic with you over the course of the week.
It'll be fun! I promise!

Did I Say I Liked Bruschetta?

Um, I mentioned in my last post that I'm in love with bruschetta, right?

Well, this dish helped solidify that love.

It was so good, so very good.  My roommate had to ask me to stop talking about it.

Golly, it was good!

And it was easy. And it warmed up really well. And it's something you should make right now.

What you'll need*:

4 thin chicken breasts

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 egg

1/4 cup shredded parmesan or mozzarella

salt and pepper to taste

bruschetta

How you do it:

Preheat the oven to 375. 

Put the flour, bread crumbs and egg into separate bowls. Season each chicken breast with the salt and pepper.  Dip each breast into the flour, then the egg and then into the bread crumbs. I placed them on a tinfoil lined pan, for easy cleaning.  Add cheese to the top of the chicken breasts.  Cover pan in tinfoil and cook for 20 minutes.  Uncover and add the bruschetta. Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.

 

Serve it up with a yummy salad and fresh bread!

*Recipe is adapted from The Taste of Home Cook Book