Breakfast for Dinner!

Brian's favorite meal of the day is breakfast! He has always been a big fan of breakfast food. Have you ever had a craving to have breakfast for dinner? Once in awhile it hits me, and I am not even a big breakfast person. But it is also a good solution on a busy week night! Just keep some pancake mix on hand in the pantry. Got milk? Got eggs? Then you can have quite an impressive breakfast.

So for our breakfast I grabbed a pumpkin pecan pancake mix. This is something I actually got as a gift and its from Williams-Sonoma. It was very good, with some maple syrup! I am not a person who buys and eats bacon on the regular. Its kind of like lucky charms for me, my mom only bought it once in awhile! But recently we had maple bacon (my heart be still!!!) and we have been thinking of it ever since. So I decided to make my own vresion. I basically just took regular bacon and while it was sizzlin' up I poured in some maple syrup. But if I had some maple sugar on hand I would have used that instead!

Then I decided it would be a good idea to have an egg added into this equation. So I had some chedder cheese on hand and yes, I had chives as well. So I just sprinkled some cheddar and chives on the fried eggs and that gave it an extra "omph" as they say!

And there is our breakfast for dinner. Totally comforting on a winter night :)

Butternut Squash, Goat Cheese, and Sage, oh my!

So I made this for a Christmas party one year and it was a big hit. My sister Katie loves it! I found it on a great site called Fine Cooking. They have great make ahead recipes for parties and the site in general is just great! I have found many great recipes using it. So I have the link and recipe below for you!

I will say that every time I have made it I can always use more of the bechamel/cheese sauce. So just fyi double that part or just be prepared to make a about a half batch more. Also I used Barilla no boil lasagne and it worked out just great! Another short cut is you can buy the the butternut squash already cut up and just roast it that way.

Sorry I don't have a matching photo! I am without a cellphone, can you imagine? So no instagrams and ect. :(....Plus a lot of people were asking for it, so I wanted to honor the requests!


http://www.finecooking.com/

1 large butternut squash (about 3 lb.), halved lengthwise and seeded 
2 medium cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 sprigs fresh thyme plus 2 tsp. chopped leaves  
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil 
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
5 Tbs. unsalted butter  
2 sprigs fresh sage plus 1 tsp. chopped leaves 
1-1/8 oz. (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour 
3 cups whole milk 
1-1/4 cups crumbled fresh goat cheese (4 oz.) 
1 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano (2 oz.) 
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg 
1/4 cup coarse dry breadcrumbs or panko 
1 recipe Fresh Pasta for Lasagne

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Roast the squash and garlic Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F.
Put the squash cut side up on a large, heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet. Put 1 garlic clove and 1 sprig of thyme in each cavity. Drizzle each half with 1 tsp. of the oil and then season each with 1/4 tsp. salt and a few grinds of pepper. Roast until the squash is browned in spots and very tender when pierced with a skewer, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
Discard the thyme sprigs. Peel the garlic and put in a large bowl. Scoop the squash flesh from the skins and add it to the garlic. Mash with a fork until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.

Make a goat cheese and sage sauce Melt 4 Tbs. of the butter in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the sage sprigs and cook until the butter is fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Discard the sage. Add the flour and whisk until smooth and golden, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk and cook, whisking occasionally, until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Stir in the goat cheese, 1/2 cup of the pecorino, the nutmeg, 1 tsp. salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Season to taste with more salt and pepper. Set aside 1-1/2 cups of the sauce and mix the rest with the mashed squash.

Season the breadcrumbs Melt the remaining 1 Tbs. butter in a small skillet over medium heat. In a small bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, chopped sage, chopped thyme, a pinch of salt, and few grinds of pepper. Add the melted butter and mix well.

Assemble and bake the lasagne Spread 1/2 cup of the reserved cheese sauce over the bottom of a 9x13x3-inch baking dish. Cover the sauce with a slightly overlapping layer of cooked noodles, cutting them as needed to fill any gaps. Spread 1 cup of the squash mixture evenly over the noodles. Add another layer of noodles and repeat the layers as instructed above, to make a total of 4 squash layers and 5 pasta layers. Spread the remaining 1 cup cheese sauce evenly over the top. Sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture and the remaining 1/2 cup pecorino.
Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the top is browned and bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

A Little Summer in the Winter

I know its freezing out and thoughts of summer are far off. I am really not the biggest fan of January and February. Its after the holidays and its below 30! Plus its hard to find a good piece of fruit. Apples are still good, and I hear its grapefruit season. Which I do like grapefruit! But I saw strawberries on sale this week and they actually looked really good! So I went for it and made a salad that I usually save for the summer. But I figured why not, when is the next time I might find strawberries that look this good!

 

Strawberry Balsamic Salad

Strawberries, sliced

Cucumbers, sliced then halved

Red Onion

Salt

Pepper

Sugar

Balsamic Vinegar

1. First slice the strawberries and put them in the bowl. Then toss them with about two teaspoons of sugar, like a couple of sprinkles. I wouldn’t use that “raw” sugar stuff. This does what’s called maceration a fancy way of saying you are encouraging the strawberries to release their juices!

2. Then add the red onion and cucumbers sliced. Toss with salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. You can adjust these amounts to your liking. I usually go a little bit heavier on the pepper. Strawberries, pepper, and balsamic alone are pretty awesome….Feelin crazy? Put that over vanilla ice cream! Ummm minus the cucumber and onion of course!

Mmmm MInty

I have to say I am NOT the best baker. I think I may have said it before. I have even ruined brownies out of the box. I have definitely cried while trying to use a mixer or deal with dough of any kind! BUT....I am getting better! This holiday season I tried a couple of new baked goods, on my own! One success I had was a recipe I found through Pinterest (love it!). Peppermint Crumble bars...Okay I am not the biggest peppermint fan but I used milk chocolate peppermint bark instead of just white chocolate and I think they are much better that way. But this recipe was not too hard and to my surprise very good!

credit to:
http://www.somethingswanky.com/peppermint-crumble-bars/

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups white chocolate peppermint candy (like Andes peppermint bits)
• 1 - 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 
  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut the butter, sugar, and flour together until crumbly.
3. Press a little more than half of the crumble mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 lined baking dish.
4. In a medium saucepan over low heat, mix 1 cup of the white chocolate peppermint candy and the sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Pour over the crumb crust in the dish.
5. Sprinkle the remaining crumble and white chocolate peppermint candy evenly over top.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until edges begin to just barely brown.
7. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Watch Out Ursula!

Traditionally Italians break out the "seven fishes" tradition for Christmas Eve. Our family follows that somewhat. As the years go by people's tastes change and we are not eating the same fish as our grandparents! My dad took over the tradition of cooking Christmas Eve a couple of years ago. It is now his event and his "thing." While my mom, sisters, and I are busy prepping for the main event, Christmas Day, Bucky is dealing with the "fishes."

What makes this time so much fun is not only the cooking he does, but the annual Arthur Ave trip. He takes all the "men" to Arthur Ave in the Bronx to some real deal places! There they get all the fish, bread, meat, and antipasto fresh! They go early in the morning and have a blast! I love that my husband, Brian, now gets to take part of the tradition. But of course I am insanely jealous all morning long as they instagram photos!

Brian actually loves octopus haha! I know some people are totally freaked out. Katie and Danielle think its 100% gross! I know it looks creepy but if you can get over it, it is good! So I added a Octopus and Potato salad to the rotation for Brian. Turns out my grandmother and Kevin are into it as well! This recipe I adapted from Lidia Bastianich, who is the queen of Italian cooking!

• 1½ - 2 pounds octopus, cleaned
• 1 wine cork
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 medium Idaho potatoes, whole
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 Bermuda onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
• Lemon wedges for garnish

Directions

1. Place the octopus, wine cork, bay leaves, and salt and pepper in a large pot with water. Cover generously and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook the octopus at a vigorous simmer until tender but slightly al dente, about 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a second pot, cover the potatoes with cold water and bring to a boil. Cook about 25 minutes, until just tender, then cool, peel, and cut them into 1" cubes.
3. Drain the octopus, discarding the bay leaves and cork. Cut the tentacles away where they join the head and, if desired, strip away the skin and suction cups by drawing the tentacles through the bunched fingers of one hand. Clean the octopus head by squeezing out the core with your fingers, and cut the meat into thin slices. Cut the tentacles into 1" pieces, and toss the octopus pieces with the warm potatoes. Toss in the olive oil, red wine vinegar, onion, and parsley. Place on a plate, garnish with lemon wedges and serve.

One of Brians Favs

So this has become a really simple go to dish for me! Whenever Brian has been traveling and I ask what he wants to eat when he comes home he always mentions Kalamata Chicken with twice baked potatoes on the side. I am not sure why out of all the things I make this one is it! But it is! I am pretty sure I have borrowed pieces of this recipe from other recipes but this is the basic gist of it! Disclaimer, its a big one! I DO NOT ...Lemme say it again b/c I am sure someone is going to want me to repeat it...I DO NOOOOOOT know how to write recipes, and I am very bad at using measurements when making up my own. So some of these are guestimates. Part of cooking is tasting and adjusting to what you would like. So I am NOT A PROFESSIONAL. Just trying to share what I can. So hopefully you can  make some sense out of it if you want to try it. As time goes on if I get better at it, GREAT. If not, well yikes!

Kalamata Chicken

So basically you can use this on grilled chicken if you wanted to be healthier but I usually do it with chicken cutlets.

Chicken Cutlets:

Italian breadcrumbs

Grated Parmesan

Basil

Garlic Power

Salt

Pepper

Egg

Olive Oil

In one bowl beat two eggs. Then in another bowl pour whatever brand of Italian breadcrumbs in, measure about two handfuls (1 cup about). It depends upon how many pieces of chicken you are doing obviously! You can use your judgment! I always like to doctor up the breadcrumbs with some grated Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, basil, salt and pepper.  Blend that together.

Then coat a frying pan with olive oil and wait until it gets hot to start putting the pieces of coated chicken.  Take a piece of chicken coat it with the egg then put it in the breadcrumb mixture and coat as well. Then fry it a couple of minutes on each side. Transfer the chicken to another plate, or a pyrex.

Kalamata Tapenade

At the supermarkets you can find olive bars or you can find these olives jarred. Try to find the olives that are already pitted, it saves you a lot of work! These olives are purple, but if you prefer I am sure you can use your favorite kind of olive and make it work!

Kalamata Olives-Pitted

Capers (just like two or three)

Garlic Clove (whole)

Pepper

(I say no salt b/c the olives are salty enough!)

Olive Oil- just a drizzle

So basically find a blender or smaller food processor, like one of those “bullet” things if you can. Take all the ingredients and dump it in and you are going to aim to make a paste, that’s kind of what a “tapenade” is like. This is what you are going to spread ontop of the chicken cutlets. After that you are going to pour the olive juice in the pyrex dish that you bake the chicken in. If you want you can put some feta cheese ontop of the chicken as well. I basically bake the chicken for like 10 minutes .

Top Chef

I got a serious treat this past month and I am not talking Mcdonalds! I had the pleasure of meeting and cooking with Aariane Duarte from Top Chef season 5. She was one of our favorites and also has a restaurant right here in Montclair, New Jersey called Culinariane. I was lucky enough to be able to go, geez I think it was two years ago now!
It was a great experience!

Upon meeting Aariane, I was issued my apron which was a top chef shirt woo hoo! She is such a joy to be around, so much fun and full of so much good info! Now I use Kosher salt as I have learned the importance, and have discovered parboiling potatoes. I know some of this sounds basic but hey every little thing helps. Aariane and her husband both have extensive experience in food and restaurant.Their stories are very interesting. Ariane says that Top Chef had her grow as a Chef and got very competitive as you could imagine. The judges were just as tough in real life as you see on TV no joke!

We cooked an awesome seafood risotto with lobster chowder and prawns. Risotto can be intimidating b/c I always hear that its temperamental and all about timing. But now at least I have a better idea of how things go. Once you start working with it you need to just stand there stirring and adding chicken broth or whatever you are working with. And just keep tasting it!

Of course my favorite was a watermelon, heirloom tomato salad. But she just arranges everything on the plate to look pretty, makes such a difference! Then she made pork chops and truffled potatoes. And her husband cooked up an amazing skirt steak! Fun was had by all!