Passion Bars

Don't worry, this isn't turning into a baking blog, this hardly counts as baking. When I was a teenager I knew I wanted to learn more about cooking and baking. I wanted to try to bake something that wasn't out of the box. I believe this recipe came from one of the baking cookbooks my sister bought me for my birthday. As time passed and my baked goods weren't as good as my cooking I gave up trying to bake anything difficult. Recently I remembered this recipe and how easy they were to make. I looked through every cookbook I had and couldn't find it. So of course, I reached out to my friends at bakespace. Within 5 minutes Cathy of Minnesota came back with three possible candidates. The last one was it! It was called Passion Bars which didn't sound familiar to me but call it whatever you want...this IS the exact recipe! I couldn't wait any longer so last night I made these bars.

Looks like she got the recipe from All recipes, posted by Sue Case. Here goes...

Passion Bars

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2.In a large bowl, stir together the oats, flour, brown sugar, salt and baking soda. Cut in the butter to form a crumbly mixture. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crumbs, and pat the rest evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. In a medium bowl, stir together the sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter. Spread evenly over the oatmeal layer. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the peanut butter layer, then crumble the reserved crust over the top.

3.Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Thanks so much Cathy! This just proves how wonderful bakespace.com really is!


I love this picture because you can see each layer.

Clean Out the Fridge Bean Soup

Friday night is usually pizza night at our house. I picked that up from my Mom who cooked 6 nights out of the week when we were kids. No matter how much we like to cook, we still need a break every once and a while. However, this week I thought it would be nice to use up all the random items I had left in my fridge, which is how "Clean out the Fridge Bean Soup" got it's name. This is not a rigid recipe. You can add practically anything into this soup. I will let you know where things can be switched out or changed up in the directions.

Ingredients I used (this time!)

1 package of diced pancetta
2 links of Italian sausage
4 slices bacon
2 fresh tomatoes
cooked broccoli (from dinner a few nights ago)
2 potatoes
2 stalks celery plus leaves
2 carrots
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1 bag Roman beans, soaked for a few hours or overnight (you can use canned to speed this up)
chicken bouillon
extra virgin olive oil
small shaped pasta such as elbows or ditilini

Directions:

Saute pancetta, and bacon in oil in a large pot, when it starts to crips up add sausage. While pork browns chop carrots, celery, onion, garlic, potatoes and tomatoes. Remove pork, and set aside. Add chopped veggies to the pot and finely mince garlic. Add garlic to the top of veggies so they don't burn. Add beans and water. I filled up my big pot because I wanted it to make a lot of soup so I would have leftover. You can add less if you want less juice. Also, you can add more potatoes if you want it to be thicker. Add the bay leaves and let water come to a boil. Once soup reaches a rolling boil, add bouillon and turn the flame down low and simmer and add cooked broccoli if you are using it (If you ware using frozen or fresh put it in with the other veggies). This will take about an hour to cook or more depending on how long you soaked your beans. I only soaked mine for an hour or two so it took about 2 hours from when it came to a boil. Of course, if you used canned beans (and they don't have to be roman you can use cannelini or whatever you prefer) this will only need to cook until the beans warm through and all flavors combine.

I made my pasta in a separate pot because I wanted to freeze the soup (but don't want to freeze the pasta). If I was going to finish this up in the first day or two I would have cooked the pasta right in the pot. The starch in the pasta would thicken the soup which I tend to like better. This way is also perfectly fine and deliciousm, it's a matter of preferance. Hey, you don't even need the pasta if you don't want it but I'm Italian, I'm not turning down pasta!

Serve into deep bowls and top with grated cheese.

Other possible add ins to this soup:

the rind of a chunk of a hard Italian cheese
peas instead of broccoli
pieces of stale bread
couple of tablespoons of leftover tomato sauce or paste
swap out the roman beans for lentils
chopped prosciutto
swap out the pork and add some mini meatballs

The list goes on and on. This dish can be made anyway and anytime. It's simple, easy and delicious.

Enjoy!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

No, this isn't a figment of your imagination. I seriously baked and I think I did it well. It's a miracle. I usually mess things up when I bake so on the rare occasion I do it and the even rarer occasion that it works out, I'm really excited and pleasantly surprised.

This recipe came from my Mom. She got it about 10 years ago from a woman she used to work with. It's a great way to use up overripe bananas. The recipe is for Banana Bread but the recipe can also be used for muffins with only one adjustment, baking time. The recipe is very versatile and you can add in whatever you like, walnuts, pecans, peanut butter, whatever your little heart desires. Mine desired chocolate chips...and walnuts...but the boss doesn't like nuts so...there you go.

I do have a question for all my baker friends that I think (hope) are reading my blog. When I took my muffins out of the oven they were nice and....perky (for lack of a better word). I left them there on top of the stove for 5-10 minutes and when I came back they flattened on top. What gives? Did I need to remove them from the tins and have them cool on a rack? I'm telling you, I'm not good at this (with the exception of 7 layer cookies at Christmas!). I thought I'd share a picture and post this anyway because even if they don't look right they tasted sooooooooo good!

Thanks Mom!!!

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
¾ cup or 3 ripe bananas mashed
1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup walnuts or chocolate chips, optional

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and add bananas and nuts last.

Bake for 50 minutes at 350˚.

If making muffins bake for 25 minutes. Yields 12 muffins.

Fried Sicilian Eggplant and Pasta

This recipe was taught to me by a friend's mother years ago. It took me quite some time to get it just right and I have to say it finally tastes just right! Before I get into the recipe let me first apologize to all my ecofriendly friends over at bakespace.com. I really use a TON of paper towels while preparing the eggplant. If anyone can come up with a better way to do it I'd be glad to hear it!

Ingredients:

1 Sicilian Eggplant
Parmigiano or Romano cheese, grated
fresh basil leaves
Prepared Marinara Sauce (I used two 16oz cans. Also, you don't want to use a sauce with any meat in it since the eggplant is the star of this dish.)
1 pound pasta (rigatoni, penne or ziti)

So if you are unsure of what a Sicilian Eggplant looks like I can't help you because I forgot to take a picture!!! :-0 I found some pics on the web but I'm afraid to link them since they come from other blogs. I'm still new to blogging so I'm not sure what the proper etiquette would be and I'm to impatient to wait for email replies. Sorry! Anyway, It's a round purple eggplant and I believe it has less seeds than a regular eggplant. I wish I took pictures of the steps but I was in a huge rush (as this takes a long time) and I forgot about taking pictures until I started frying them.

Directions:

So you start by cutting the ends off both sides of the eggplant like you would a tomato or an onion. We don't peel this because the skin keeps the eggplant from falling apart. I think it looks pretty too. (If you don't like to eat it, no worries, it easily peels right off like the skin on a piece of soppresata when you bite into a slice.) Then you slice it in half lengthwise, place it cut side down (again, like an onion) and continue to cut slices so they look like half moons. I'm estimating, but I'd say slice them about 1/4 of an inch or 1/3 of an inch thick. They will shrink from the salt and the frying so not too thin and if they are too thick they will be hard in the middle. Yuck! So,put eggplant slices in a colander and sprinkle with lots of salt. Make sure each slice has salt on it. Cover it with a plate that fits inside and weigh it down with something heavy. Place a bowl underneath if you are going to put it on the counter because a lot of liquid will come out. Leave it there for 2 hours. Yes, 2 hours....not really an after work dinner...but I did it anyway and we at at 9pm! The purpose of salting the eggplant is to remove the bitterness and I believe the salted eggplant absorbs less oil when it's fried.



This photo was taken when I made Pasta Norma a few months ago. It's the same preparation method but the eggplant is diced so that's what you see peaking out from the plate.



Next step is to thorougly wash the eggplant under cold running water. Make sure you rinse each slice and rub it with you fingers to make sure there isn't any trace of salt left. That was mistake number one when I first tried to make this about 7 years ago. Here is where the paper towels come in. Lay out two layers of paper towels. You'll need a lot of them because you are going to dry them on the towels in a single layer and then top it with another two layers of paper towels. I like to do this early in the day in between doing other things so I know they are very dry. Press down on the eggplant slices with paper towel to absorb the water. This is the 2nd mistake I made that first attempt. They weren't dry enought and absorbed so much water that they were a greasy, salty mess. You live and learn though, right?

Once you are sure your eggplant is dry (it will still feel damp but you'll be able to tell) fry them in a large skillet with canola oil. Make sure the oil is hot or your eggplant will be too greasy. Depending on the size of your eggplant you may have to add more oil to the pan a couple of times. Let the eggplant brown until it's a beautiful brown color...not burnt but definitely with some color. Set the fried eggplant on a (again) paper towel lined plate and continue to layer paper towels between each single layer of eggplant slices.




When you have finished frying the eggplant add a layer of sauce to a plate or platter and sprinkle with grated romano or parmigiano cheese. Top with a single layer or eggplant, arraning the eggplant so they aren't overlapping and almost look like a flower, working your way from the outside of the plate in. You really can arrange it however you want but it always looks so pretty this way. You won't be able to see the pretty arrangement on mine because I made a double batch and fried two eggplants so I had to use a pyrex. On top of the eggplant add sauce, cheese and fresh basil leaves. Continue to layer in this manner until you have used up all your slices.

Serve this room temperature or cold, over pasta or on the side.

Ugly but Tasty

I am sooo tired. I can't wait until Sunday. I hate moving. I have no picture, as my lunch did not look appetizing, but it did include this:
I just looked on their website to look at what's in it, and it actually claims "you'll not get this secret recipe". :) It's good. All I did was to put some over a chicken breast and bake it, then top it with a little more sauce--nice and easy!

The rest of my lunch was the black bean-corn salad i made the other day, and some ravioli that didn't turn out so well. The flavors were amazing--I'd definately try these pear-gorgonzola ravioli again. What I wouldn't do is to blend the ingredients in the food processor--it gets too liquid-y, making it terribly hard to fill the ravioli! I bet that combo would go well in a salad...

Besides for some breakfast eggs and smoothie, I think I'm done in my kitchen! No more food to cook... good thing, since I've packed up all but a few of my glasses, toaster oven, and stick blender! The big day is Saturday, I'm a little worried about driving the truck myself, usually that's dad's job :) Next time I cook it will be from the parents house--what fun!

Chicken Cakes take the Cake!

When Steve and I first moved in together I asked his mom to give me some recipes that she knew he liked. I got some really great recipes from her and this is one of them. This recipe came from an issue of Cooking Light Magazine. It was listed as one of that issue's "Greatest Hits" and we know why!

We usually eat these for dinner with a vegetable and some rice but I always picture them served as a first course at a dinner party. Maybe on a bed of lightly dressed arugula and red onion salad with a dollop of the aioli. I'll have to do that!

So here is the recipe taken from the Cooking Light Website...

Spicy Chicken Cakes with Horseradish Aioli

Aioli (ay-OH-lee) is a garlic mayonnaise from the Provence region in France and a popular condiment there for meat and vegetables. It can be made in advance and refrigerated.

Total time: 45 minutes.

Cakes:
2 (1 1/2-ounce) slices whole wheat bread
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast (I use ground chicken breast)
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
3 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons canola oil

Aioli:

2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1/8 teaspoon salt

To prepare cakes, place bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure 1 cup (discard remaining breadcrumbs). Set breadcrumbs aside.

Place chicken in food processor; pulse until ground. Combine chicken, chives, 3 tablespoons mayonnaise, seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon salt, egg whites, and breadcrumbs in a medium bowl; mix well (mixture will be wet). Divide mixture into 8 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add patties; cook 7 minutes on each side or until done.

To prepare aioli, combine 2 tablespoons mayonnaise and remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Serve with cakes.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 chicken cakes and about 1 1/2 teaspoons aioli)CALORIES 242 (26% from fat); FAT 7.1g (sat 1.3g,mono 1.8g,poly 1.3g); PROTEIN 29.5g; CHOLESTEROL 66mg; CALCIUM 44mg; SODIUM 749mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 1.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 12.5g

Cooking Light, JULY 2006

Ginger-y Cranberry Walnut Scones

I thought I was doing so well with cleaning out my freezer. Then I opened it the other night and found a bag of cranberries. Ooops. It's august--not fall yet. Moving in less than a week. What was I going to make with these?? Luckily, a quick search came up with a recipe for Ginger-y Cranberry Walnut Scones. Made a double batch to use most of the bag, then brought around to quite a few friends of mine :)


Nice crumbly texture and not too sweet. Each bite with a cranberry had a nice tart-ness :) I haven't eaten (or baked) many scones in my life (no real reason), so I'm not sure how they compare to others. The dough was quite crumbly when shaping, but they managed to hold together enough to transfer to the baking sheet! Susan confirmed my suspicion--I should've added a little more liquid. Next time!

More. Red. Meat.

I'm not a huge red meat eater, so I wasn't quite looking forward to dinner last night. I'll take a fantastic burger any day of the week, but I'm not one to *swoon* over steak. This piece of flank steak was already grilled up, I just had to make a sauce.

For the marinade I used: ~1/2 chopped scallion, 1 minced clove garlic, dash red pepper flakes, 1/2t dark sesame oil, juice from 1/2 lime, ~1/4T each: grated fresh ginger and brown sugar. Let it do it's thing in the fridge for ~1.5hrs, turning whenever I remembered.

Now to the sauce. I [heart] peanut butter, so that's what kept me going last night. Now I know everyone's raving about the PB&Co flavors, and i've tried a few, but the only one I think I'd buy again is Crunch Time. Not to say that I wouldn't try making my own, especially to remake those Dark Chocolate Dream Cookies :) But I digress. When I saw this in the store I couldn't help pick it up for pure curiosity sake. And it was in a smaller container, so if I didn't love it, I wouldn't have a ton of it to eat.


Sorry for the blurry picture.... i think it's my camera--does better with people and landscapes than up close and personal images. Alright, back to the sauce. I had searched online and had an idea of what to do, but when I got home I realized my small saucepan was already packed. woops! Hmm, so I improvised: ~1T Heat is on PB, juice of the other half of lime, and some water (I just eye-balled it, probably could've used a little more). Microwaved for 25sec, stirred, then put it back in for another 30sec or so. At the first stir I didn't think it was going to work, but then it came to a boil (i think) and thickened up into a sauce-like consistency! Doesn't look the prettiest, but it actually tasted pretty good on the meat!


Any other ideas on what to do with the rest of this unique flavor? I'm thinking on a turkey sandwhich it would bring some nice flavors to the party... but that's all I got so far :) Oh, it's their all-natural peanut butter blended with chili powder, cayenne and crushed red peppers. On it's on it's got a little heat behind it, but not too bad--although I won't be eating this one out of the container!

What's on the rest of my plate? That's me trying to use up the frozen corn and can of black beans... it was ~2c corn (thawed), 15oz can black beans, pint of grape tomatoes halved, 2 scallions chopped, some parsley, a squeeze of lemon juice (it was sitting in the fridge), and maybe 1/4c of some light italian dressing that had been forgotten about. Another tasty way to eat your veggies!

Memory

I met Sarah when I was only a few years old. It was in gymnastics class. I was a shy toddler with a head of bright red curls; Sarah was outgoing and blond. My mom, who immediately hit it off with her mom, has told me the story many times. I don’t remember a thing.

But I was probably drawn to her then for much the same reasons as I am today: Sarah’s vivacity has always been coupled with as much grace as goofiness. And she sings a mean rendition of "Memory."

Since then, Sarah has always been present in my life. We navigated the halls of elementary, junior high, and high school together. For years I helped to decorate her Christmas tree. We spent many an afternoon in her backyard, pretending to be characters from Andrew Lloyd Weber musicals, and there were countless weekends with our families skiing in Vermont. We marched together, wearing suspenders and plumed hats for four years of band.

My childhood is laced with the dull scent of leather from her family’s living room chairs. It is filled with the aromas of wood and paint from the playhouse her father built in their backyard. It sounds of Christmas carols, of Ace of Base and Enya. It feels of steam from mugs of hot chocolate at her family’s home in Vermont and the cold metal mouthpiece of our flutes during shared lessons. There was our first sip of alcohol, in a friend’s kitchen a few weeks after my parents divorced. There was the fuzzy sound of her voice, simultaneously worried and cheerful, when I was recovering from a car accident three years ago.

I thought about all these things as I watched her walk down the aisle this past weekend, glowing in her white gown and veil. I sat between my mom and my brother, wearing a bright yellow dress, and thought of the weddings we had once set up for members of our Barbie doll collections.

Sarah married Joe, who is perfect for her in every way. Their wedding, which was elegant and merry, was rife with both memory and fun. It was almost as if the church carried the faint scent of leather; the dance floor, perched under a tent in rural Vermont, smelled of wood and paint.

Mom's Stuffed Peppers

My mom has always been my biggest fan and supporter and I haven't given her any credit yet on my blog. Sorry Mom! My mother has a great love for food and unfortunately had to deal with picky children and a picky husband for many years! Sorry Dad (but when are you going to eat like an Italian?!?!) lol When I was a child there were many things I refused to try but my mom was always there encouraging me to taste new things. I got there eventually and now the tables have turned. Now it's me helping my mom to explore her palate...but this is not a fight like it was for me! I can always count on my Mom to sample a new recipe I've made, cook with me, clean up after me and basically be whatever I need her to be in the kitchen. In fact, I hate that she is so far away (1 hour!) and rarely gets to taste my food anymore. (I'd like to think I've gotten much better!)

I've tried making stuffed peppers many different ways, some that I love, some are just okay and some will stay with me forever. This recipe is one of those. My mom's recipe for Stuffed Peppers is one of the first things she ever taught me to make. I've made some very minor tweaks which has only improved (not changed!) Mom's recipe.

So here it is! You're going to love this one! It's like a big meatball stuffed inside a pepper!

Here is my Mother's recipe and below are the additions I have made.

Mom’s Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

6 red peppers
2 lbs. ground veal, beef or meatloaf mix
1 egg
locatelli cheese, grated
approx. ¼ cup dried parsley
garlic pepper
1 cup cooked white rice
salt
1 can crushed tomatoes

Mix veal, parsley, egg, salt garlic, cheese and rice.
Wash peppers, cut off tops (save for another time), fill peppers with meat mixture. Put peppers in a chicken fryer, pour tomatoes on top of peppers and around them. Sprinkle with cheese. Cook on stove top until peppers are cooked approx. 1 hour. Serve with Rice and peas.

Serves 6

After washing the peppers and removing the tops, I make small cut on the bottom of the pepper. This keeps the peppers upright and provides a hole for the sauce to go into. Be careful not to cut off too much because we don't want the filling to fall out, just enough space for the sauce to get in. I also sprinkle the inside of the peppers with kosher salt and little fresh black pepper.

I saute one onion and 3 cloves of garlic in a small frying pan. Once onions are softened and garlic is cooked (not browned) I set it aside to cool. This gets added to the meat mixture.

Once peppers are stuffed I put a little extra virgin olive oil in the pan and saute the peppers on all sides for a few minutes, until the skin blisters. I saw this done on a cooking show and it really does add some additional flavor.

Other than those few things I do exactly what the recipe says and they really were delicious!

Battle: Flank Steak, part II

Sorry, no picture this time, but it looked alot like the first, minus the sauce-yness :) The second recipe was for a lime marinade, see below. It was pretty tasty, the meat was nice and juicy as prepared (but not saucy like the first recipe). The lime flavor was present, but not overpowering. I'd definately make it again as it was pretty simple, but I think next time I'd try it in some tacos!

For my 1 serving of flank steak (~1/4lb), I used the following for the lime marinade:
juice of 1 lime
1/2T soy sauce
1/2 scallion, thinly sliced
1/2T fresh ginger (I keep little pieces of peeled ginger in the freezer and just grate it when I need it)
dash of red pepper flakes

marinate in the fridge (i used a plastic bag) for 30min-1hr, turning once or twice. Then get grilling! :)

Phew, I came in to work to, well... work, so now I should get to it!

Sambazon Acai

Look what I found at the bottom of my freezer!! I had completely forgotten about these puppies!! You can read about Acai here, or on Sambazon's website, but it's a great fruit with more antioxidants than pomegrantes and blueberries. I picked up these convenient frozen smoothie packs at whole foods, and it was the perfect addition to my post-run smoothie!! Nice, cold and refreshing. Sambazon's website has other ideas on how to use these, so I'm about to go read and find out :)

More things to love

my view as I walk home over the south st. bridge

Wow where has the day gone? I was going to go for a run early this morning and head into work by noon, but one thing led to another, led to another... here it is much later than expected. Oh well!

Another one of my favorite things about Philadelphia is the path along the Schuylkill River--great for walking, running, biking... just about anything! I took a few pictures yesterday on my long bike ride that I thought I'd share.

From the bridge by the art museum


Center City from West River Drive

There's a path that starts further down the river, but near the Art Museum there's a 8.25mi loop that's especially nice in the summer, as West River Dr. is closed off to car traffic. I recruited a friend for what turned into a 32mi ride, we made it all the way to Conshohocken! It even included a killer hill I can't believe I ever did w/o clipless pedals (why do they call them clipless pedals when you "clip" in???). A little scary at times with the traffic in Manayunk--i'm still getting used to the pedals--but it was a fantastic day!

Battle: Flank Steak

I do feel like it's almost been a battle, using as much of the food occupying my freezer and fridge as I can the past two weeks!!

Last night I cooked up some flank steak, 3 ways (the recipe junkie is already rearing it's ugly head!) to eat over the next few days. The first was a slightly modification of this recipe, based on what I had... and what I forgot :). I used roasted garlic teryaki and left out the garlic and onion. (the onion was the accidental part) Came out pretty delicious, although the picture below doesn't suffice. As I was packing if for lunch, doesn't make for nice presentation. I'll have to work on that!



Also in the tupperware: some beet ravioli I made and stuck in the freezer awhile ago and a large spoonful of Spinach Cannellini dip.

For the ravioli, I used the recipe for the filling but opted for wonton wrappers for a shortcut. The sauce went by the wayside, as I was tired after cooking so much meat! They were pretty good, except I was a bit skimpy on filling them (I'm always afraid of over-filling!) and I'm sure would've been better fresh with the sauce!

To get some veggies and use up the box of spinach in my freezer, I whirred up some of this dip in my trusty food processor before I packed it up. As I made a few adaptations from the Everyday Italian recipe, my version is below. Very yummy!

I'll be back with the other flank steak recipes once I give those a try!

~~~~~
Spinach Cannellini Dip
Adapted from Everyday Italian


1 HUGE garlic clove (prob 2-3 normal sized ones)
1 box frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 can cannellini beans (might've been 20oz can)
1T fresh lemon juice
1T balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste
EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)

I just threw everything but the oil into the processor, turned it on, then drizzled in the EVOO until it got a nice creamy consistency (used ~2T). Like I mentioned, it could've used a little more, or maybe some water to moisten a bit more.

It definately reminded me of spinach artichoke dip, and would be fantastic on pita chips! Could also be done with fresh spinach, sauteeing with garlic and some EVOO over medium heat before adding to the food processor.

Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

I know, I know, I've been a bad girl. I haven't posted a recipe in weeks! I've been pretty busy with parties and showers and all kinds of things going on. All happy celebrations so I don't mind it. With all the craziness that went on I did remember to snap a photo so I could blog about this wonderful dish. I made this for Steve's Aunt's Baby Shower last week and everyone liked it which makes me very happy!

Before I go on to post this recipe I just want to say Congratulations Melissa and Salvatore and Congratulations to Dana and Lenny!!! Both couples will be parents for the very first time!!!

Okay so here goes...it's really very easy and you can add as much or as little garlic as you like or even use hot sausage or a mixture of sweet and hot. This recipe was written to feed a crowd but you can certainly make this for one pound of pasta and use only one bunch of broccoli rabe and half the amount of sausage. I hope you like it! I'd love to hear your variation on this very popular dish so feel free to comment!

Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

Ingredients:

1 lb sweet Italian sausage (6 links)
2 bunches, broccoli rabe
4-5 cloves garlic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Crushed red pepper, to taste
Salt and peppr
Romano cheese, to taste
2 lbs pasta

Directions:

1. Remove stems from broccoli rabe and discard. Cut into bite sized pieces.
Boil broccoli rabe in a large pot of salted water for about 8-10 minutes. Drain (reserve 2 cups of water) and put into an ice cold water bath to stop the cooking process and set aside.

2. While broccoli rabe is cooking, remove sausage from casing and crumble. Saute sausage in oil with garlic and red pepper, constantly breaking it up. Once sausage is cooked add in broccoli rabe and toss to coat with oil. Let it cook together with a few minutes so the broccoli rabe picks up the flavors. At this point you can refrigerate overnight or until ready to cook the pasta.

3. Boil pasta (chose one that won’t fall apart such as orrechiette, cellantani, cavatappi, etc.) in salted water while reheating sausage and broccoli rabe mixture. Add some reserved water from the broccoli rabe to moisten the mixture. Add cooked pasta and toss while continuing to add more water as needed. It shouldn’t be soupy but should not be dry. Toss with cheese and a little more extra virgin olive oil.

Enjoy!

Philly Eats

One of the things I will miss most about Philadelphia are the amazing restaurants that abound. In case you're ever looking for somewhere to eat in the city, here are some of my favorites...

My favorite meal (aka brunch): Sabrina's, Morning Glory, & Honey's

Bar Food: Good Dog, Ten Stone, Nodding Head, Monks, Bishop's Collar

Polish (think pierogies and kielbasa): Krakus Market

THE best guacamole, made table-side: Xochitl

Some others that I've enjoyed: Marigold Kitchen, Rx, Tiffin, Figs

Sweet Endings: Capogiro, Darling's cheesecake, Rita's

Still on my to-do list: Vetri, Osteria, Standard Tap, Amada, D'Jango, Rae, Zahav, Silk City Diner, Supper, Chloe

oh, cheesesteaks? I'd probably head to Jim's on 4th and South, but that's just me...

Man I'm getting hungry thinking of all the good meals I've had!! Luckily there will be many new things to explore in Boston :)

Edited to add: D'Jango was great, great fresh, local meal! Osteria *swoon* was fantastic, especially the chocolate "flan" (really a molten chocolate cake) with pistachio gelato...

A Work in Progress

...both the blog and me!

I've loved reading so many food blogs over the past year, and have been inspired to start one of my own. Probably not the best time to do so as I should be packing... oh well :)

My goals: First and foremost, I need to get back to having a healthy relationship with food.

What I'll share: I'm a grocery store and recipe junkie. I took up a love of cooking in grad school, and can't believe the things I'm eating now! So while I doubt I'll be sharing everything I eat, I'd love to share fun products and recipes I try out. Maybe some reflections and fun things, too.

What's up with the name? I alluded to my love of cooking, which is the second part of the name. The first comes from another thing I've picked up in grad school--triathlon. I did my first one last summer and was hooked. This summer's been crazy busy, but I can't wait to do some more!

Stay tuned!

:)s

Happy Birthday, Nanny

I know, it's weird. I'm wishing my deceased grandmother a happy birthday. It's really hard not to miss her, especially on special days like today so even though I'm a little behind on the food portion of my blog I thought it important to acknowledge her. Nanny would have been 100 years old today. I wish she would have made it to 100. I bet we would have had a big party. She did make it to 98 and that's more than a lot of people get with their grandparents and I'm very thankful for that. So, Nanny, If you're reading this from somewhere on the other side (and yes she was able to read and write english very well), know that I miss you and love you and wish you were here to celebrate your 100th year.

More

This evening I went on a walk. I was in the midst of writing an article for work, the sun was just beginning to set, and I needed a break. I’ve always called this time of night the gloaming, and loved it for its glowing light and sinking shadow.

A few deer watched as I passed them on the side of the road; blackberries filled the bushes, ready to pluck. I wore a pair of yellow sandals, which I could see in the periphery of my vision whenever I took a step. They matched the golden patches of grass that stand dry on the side of the road.

I listened to Miles Davis as I walked and I let thoughts ricochet about my mind. I thought about Alice Waters, who sat gracefully at a long garden table for an event I covered on Saturday afternoon. I thought about my mom and her boyfriend, who just left after a lovely wine-soaked visit. I thought about Matt in Paris and Russia in Georgia. I thought about reporting: in a small town, in a large city. I thought about an almond cake I recently made, the blackberries I picked before breakfast, and my landlord’s chihuahua Louis. I thought about my transition to this new place, one filled with quirks and conundrums and truly excellent cheese.

I miss writing for myself; I’m going to try for more.

Caponata

Back when I lived in Brooklyn there was a restaurant we would frequently go to called Joe's of Avenue U. It's very casual Sicilian fare that was inexpensive and delicious. This is where I tried Caponata (sometimes called Caponatina) for the first time and fell in love with it. The best way for me to explain what Caponata is, is by calling it an eggplant stew. It is prepared in the same manner that one would use to make beef stew. The veggies are sauteed in oil and liquid is added to simmer them in. However, this does not take hours to make like a meat stew would, so that makes it even better for me.

The recipe I used belongs to Steve's grandmother Rose. I have never met her but I'm sure she would be happy to know that someone is making her caponata. There are many variations of this dish, some include zucchini or peppers but this one is very simple. I think the next time I make it I will add pine nuts (pignoli) and raisins. I am almost positive that those two ingredients were in the first caponata I have ever had at Joe's. Since then there have been new owners and they do not use the nuts or raisins and it's still good but I love the sweetness that the raisins give the dish. A lot of Sicilian recipes use sweet and sour ingredients together.


Grandma Rose's Caponata

2 lb unpeeled eggplant, cut into 1” cubes
½ cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
3 ½ oz. tomato paste
1 cup water
1 lb green olives, salted and pitted
2 oz jar of capers, unsalted and drained
salt and pepper to taste
1 heaping tsp. sugar
¼ cup wine vinegar

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and celery, cook until almost tender. Remove ions and celery and place in a bowl. In same skillet, sauté eggplant until light brown. Remove. In same pan, over med flame, cook tomato paste and water, stir until dissolved. Add olives, eggplant, capers, onion, celery, salt and pepper. Mix well. Bring to a boil over high flame. Lower flame and simmer for 5 minutes. Add sugar and vinegar. Stir and cook for ½ minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Makes 2 quarts. Sterilize jars before using. Cover tightly.
Keeps in refrigerator for 6 weeks.


There are only a few very minor changes that I made to this recipe.

~ I used canola oil instead of olive oil because the eggplant absorbs the olive oil too quickly. Then have to keep adding oil and you end up with oily eggplant. Just use whatever oil you would normally use for frying.

~ I added a little more sugar and vinegar than the recipe called for. I'm sure Steve's grandmother, like Nanny, didn't use standard measuring cups so the measurements that we have are just a guess. Nanny's measuring cup was a mug. So it's very difficult to get exact measurements but all you need to do is taste and adjust. Not a problem.

~ I also cooked the eggplant at the end for a little longer because either I cut the eggplant too big or the time given was just an estimation. Again, just taste it and you can tell if the eggplant is cooked all the way through.

This dish is best served cold or room temperature with a couple of pieces of good Italian bread for dipping.

Enjoy!

The award goes to....

Many thanks to my new friend Lucy from Sweets, Savories, Etc. for nominating me for the Brilliant blog award!


As you know I'm brand spanking new to all the ins and outs of blogging but I've learned that there are some rules I need to follow regarding the award. Sorry Lucy, that it took me so long to post this...I'm slow...but I'm learning! :-)

Here are the rules...(taken from Lucy's blog)

1. Add the logo to my blog.
2. Add a link to my new friend who gave me the award.
3. Nominate other blogs.
4. Add links to their blogs.
5. Leave a message on their blogs to let them know they have been tagged!

There are so many blogs that I've started reading and they are all so great! I want to pass this on to everyone, however, I will stop at three!

I am tagging...

Shane from Culinary Alchemist - He's the Alton Brown of Bakespace!

Sophie from Flour Arrangements - Her blog is the first I ever read!

Jonny and Nikki from Sunday Sauce - Their blog makes me think of home!

Breakfast of Champions

When I was a child there were mornings when I woke up and just wanted to be in Nanny's company. Even before I was old enough to understand why, I knew that Nanny was special. There were days that I'd pretend to be sick so I could stay home from school and hang out with Nanny. That meant special food all day long. One of the special things Nanny made for breakfast was french toast. I bet you're thinking that french toast is not that special. Well, her's was different and that's what made it special to me, my brother and my sister. The main difference in Nanny's French Toast was that you didn't put syrup on it. Nanny never had syrup in the house. There were many "American" things that we liked but Nanny would never touch. Syrup was one of them. Her topping for french toast was the same as her topping on her zucchini flowers. Granulated Sugar. These days since we are always watching our fat intake, a sugar topping just isn't practical. Today though, we are honoring Nanny so this is what she did and this is what I did.

Nanny usually used some white italian bread (loaf style sliced bread with some seeds...never wonder bread) but if she had some leftover bread like I did today, she would use that too. Mix in an egg with some milk, cinnamon, a little sugar and vanilla. I had a leftover round Italian bread from Whole foods and I cut two thick slices. I used two eggs since the bread was thicker. When the bread absorbed most of the egg mixture I fried it in a nonstick pan. Normally, I'd use Pam nonstick cooking spray or if I'm feeling like being indulgent I'd use a little butter. But Nanny never touched either of these things. Butter was a forbidden ingredient in her kitchen. It was very rare that she would use it. She claimed she was allergic but we all know she wasn't. She just didn't like it. Nanny used oil a lot. For most dishes she used Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I guess this is why her skin was always so soft. She never worried about her weight...she used a ton of oil but never had any issues with clogged arteries or high cholesterol. I guess this what they call the Mediterranean diet. So back to the french toast. I fried the french toast in a little bit of canola oil until it was a nice golden color. Sprinkle that with some granulated sugar and you're all set! I figured with all that thick bread I should balance it off with a sunny side up egg. Afterall, Nanny did like the combination of sweet and savory!

From the Pantry Dinner - What can YOU come up with?

It's been a long week and I'm truly exhausted. In fact, I have no idea how I'm awake and typing up this entry. Anyway, today is Friday...in our house that means pizza night. Growing up Friday was always my Mother's day off since she cooked dinner the other 6 days of the week. We usually ordered a pizza, brought home some Chinese food or in the wintertime we made our own pizza. Sorry to disappoint you but this is not a blog about pizza. I just wasn't in the mood for pizza tonight so I threw together a few things I had in the fridge and pantry and we had a delicious pasta dish. So delicious in fact, that I ate enough for two people...two very large people that is. :-)

So here is what I made. This isn't an exact recipe since things were just thrown together. I hope this will inspire you to come up with something new out of your pantry staples!

Saute 1 sliced onion in extra virgin olive oil. Add 3-4 cloves of sliced garlic. Let garlic lightly toast being careful not to burn it. Add crushed red pepper and italian seasoning. Add two chopped tomatoes that have been seeded. Let them soften. Add 1 can of tomato paste (I used some that I had in the fridge, about 3/4 of a can)and a handful of chopped mushrooms (use as much as you like. I had about 4 shitakes) deglaze pan with about 1/2 cup of white wine. Stir to combine. Add 1 can chicken broth a little at a time to create sauce. Add in one can of drained artichoke hearts (in water not oil) and some sliced kalamata olives. Throw in some torn basil, chopped parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Let cook while spaghetti is cooking. Don't bother to drain pasta, just pick it up with tongs and add to saucepan. Any water left on the pasta will help make a nice sauce.

That's it. Simple and delicious!

Something tells me that Nanny would definitely approve. Wish she was able to taste it!