The Mother of All Burgers

Who knew? Who knew how much more a burger could be than American cheese and ketchup. This meal was so good. I think if Dan hadn't proposed yet he would have tonight. Seriously.

We had two patties left over from Grazin Angus Acres at the Carroll Gardens Market this fall. I started defrosting them last night so they would be ready for today.

Here is what you need for 2 people.

- 2 patties

- a block of pepper jack cheese

- 1 medium onion

- 1 avocado

- two buns

- Extra Virgin Olive Oil, salt and pepper.

Don't you dare desecrate this with ketchup.

Directions:

Start carmelizing your onion first. Cut up your onion into four pieces, drizzle it with EVOO and sprinkle it with salt/pepper and beginning cooking it in a small frying pan on medium to medium low heat. You might need to add a little olive oil if it looks thirsty--but not too much. During the carmelizing the onion sections will break apart (you will be mixing them occassionally, so you don't need to worry about huge chunks). After 10 minutes you can start cooking your burgers.

While the burgers are cooking, whether in a large frying pan, on a grill, etc, you can cut up your avocado and slice some pieces of the pepper jack cheese. I had never cut an avocado before, it's really fun. You'll see what I mean (don't forget there is a huge pit).

Right before the burgers are done top your meat with the cheese slices so they can start to melt, toast your buns, yeah baby, and then start piling it on. Enjoy! A great party recipe to try for this summer's first grilling party. People will be impressed ;)

Chicken Saltimbocca

So this was a first tonight. I wanted to make something that would be filling for the fiance and so I was flipping through a Giada cookbook my sister gave me for Christmas last year when I came upon this.

Apparently it's a very traditional Italian dish. Usually it is done with veal, but based on some of the research I did (oh yah, I went that far) the veal tends to be overshadowed by the spinach and prosciutto, so why waste the money? Also eating baby cow is an abomination and one of the major sins on my list of How-to-be Moral. It's up there with armed robbery and pit-bull fighting. No-Nos. I cooked enough for 3 servings.

Ingredients
-1 box of frozen chopped spinach thawed (10 oz)
-olive oil
-salt and black pepper
-2 chicken cutlets pounded flat
-4-5 slices of paper-thin prosciutto
-1/2 cup of freshly shredded Parmesan cheese (seriously... buy the block)
-1 can or container of chicken broth. About 14 oz is good. Low sodium!
-the juice of one lemon

First you squeeze out any water from the thawed spinach and add a splash of olive oil, salt and pepper to the spinach. I'm not going to give measurements because unlike the Barefoot Contessa I don't think these things need to be exact. Just add what FEELS right. haha.

Next pound out your chicken cutlets. I placed mine in-between two sheets of clling wrap and had the man flatten them out by banging them with a rolling pin.

Remove the cling wrap and sprinkle some salt and pepper on the chicken. Then lay the prosciutto pieces on top and follow with the spinach mix on top of the prosciutto. Make it as even as possible and press it down. On top of this spread your grated Parmesan.

Roll the whole thing together like a jelly roll by starting at the narrowest end and rolling it tightly. Shut both rolls using toothpicks (try to remember how many you use so you can remove them all later!). I think I used about 6 in each.

Now this is where I got a little confused by Giada and other recipes. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to chop each roll into little pinwheels or put the whole thing on the frying pan. I did the whole thing because I think if I sliced it the whole roll would have fallen apart. Maybe in a few years I'd be advanced enough to do that but for now... nope.

In a large/deep skillet or pan heat up some olive oil on high and cook your rolls for about two minutes on each side until they are brown. Then add in your broth and the lemon juice, let it come to a boil, and then turn it down and let it simmer covered until the chicken is cooked all the way through. We took about 10 minutes and probably could have used a little more time even. Giada says 4 minutes but that sounds crazy to me... unless she has hers perfectly sliced into tiny pinwheels rather than two huge rolls.

Take out and serve hot. Check first to make sure the chicken cooked on the inside too. Some spots it can be hard to tell because the prosciutto can look like uncooked chicken but it's not. Give it extra time if you aren't sure. The chicken will stay moist because it's in that simmering broth.

Enjoy!

Garlic Bread

Follow these tips for perfect garlic bread. Preheat the over to 350 degrees.

1. Buy fresh bread. I purchased Pane Siciliano at Union Market. Use something thicker rather than thin like a baguette.

2. Crush several cloves of garlic.

3. Melt about 3/4 a stick of butter (for a full roll of bread).

4. Mix the butter with the crushed garlic and some parsley.

5. Slice the bread without letting the knife cut through fully. Brush the butter mixture on both sides of each piece. Any excess can be brushed on top of the roll.

6. Cover the bread loosely in aluminum foil and bake on a cookie sheet for at least 30 minutes (more to get it crunchier). Let it sit a few minutes before serving. mm.

Eggplant Pasta - Revisited

 Had this tonight. O. M. G. so good. We have done this three times now and a couple pointers to add (the original recipe is a few back).
Go light on the olive oil when you are frying up the eggplant. Eggplant seems so dry when you put it in the pan, and it sucks up the oil so it seems like it needs more but it doesn't. A rough chop is also ok - big pieces aren't a problem.
Crumble up the cheese more and go heavier on the hot pepper flakes and the mint. Heaven.

Breakfast Burrito

While this dish may appear in some restaurants/diners, I have never ordered it.

The last time I had one of these was in the eighth grade. We made these in Home Ec... excuse me, "Family and Consumer Science."

I remember being horrified that I was going to have to try it, I took a bite.. and I liked it! However, the act of making one of these in a group setting at the age of 13 was probably so traumatizing that I haven't dared face my past.

We made these the other night (I'm behind blogging a few recipes). If you know me at all then you know "the other night" could mean anything from last night to close to a year ago. I'm not telling.

Anyway, I feel like I am ranting and that might be because Dan and I have been having some of Adam's organic vino. Led Zeppelin isn't helping either.

To make the breakfast burrito you will need the following ingredients!

1) flour tortillas (this is actually why I made them - we had Mexican the night before and I am trying to expand my food dollar)
2) eggs
3) bacon
4) green pepper
5) onion
6) cheese (mozzarella or a combination of cheeses)
7) a dash of hot sauce (my mom recommended this)

For the first time ever I microwaved the bacon. I wanted to see how it worked and I also was trying to avoid more dishes to wash. It's pretty easy. You just lay a few strips on a paper towel, cover them with more paper towel, and nuke it until it's crispy. Do this a few times, keep changing the paper towel, and you should have close to 12 strips. I only use Boar's Head because I think Oscar Meyer is nasty, greasy.

Will negotiating the bacon, chop up some peppers and onion and saute in a frying pan. Scramble some eggs.

Combine together with the cheese, a dash of hot sauce, etc in the flour tortilla and enjoy! It's quite good. Excellent for when you want something really really filling.

Guest Blog: Sizzlin' Swordfish and Fried Potatoes

Seafood...there's nothing quite like it. In the summer, a lobster roll or some fried clams is about as decadent as one could get. As the seasons change and the weather gets cooler, however, we tend to crave something a little heartier, a little...bigger.

That brings us to the subject of today's entree...1.25 pound swordfish from Fish Tales on Court Street. These guys have duked it out with Bobby Flay, so you know that they are for real. Sum and I had one of their $20 Maine lobster rolls over the summer, and it was phenomenal--huge chunks of lobster meat oozing out of every bite.

Anyways, back to business. For a poor man's seafood dinner, we've cooked tilapia a few times recently. It's an easy to cook fish and, with some grilled veggies, a quick plate. But tonight, we had some wine to burn and were looking for something a little more luxurious.

Summer fried up some red bliss potatoes for an excellent side dish. We had four of them altogether. You'll definitely want to start the potatoes well before the fish. She sliced them up (not too thin) and dropped them in the frying pan with a combination dusting of olive oil, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic.

The manager at Fish Tales recommends a one pound cut for two adults (naturally, ours was 1.25 pounds). Without prodding, he gave us the lowdown on how to cook it:
Add:

• Olive oil
• Garlic
• Fresh parsley
• Salt (we use sea salt)
• Pepper

Cook each side on medium-high heat in a grill or pan for 3-5 minutes. Our man behind the counter prefers it charred a bit, so he goes for 5 minutes. In his words, "You can't mess this up."

We followed his directions as best we could, and we were not disappointed. In my humble opinion, this might be the best "meat" dish we've cooked since moving to Brooklyn. The fish came out juicy and soft, with wonderful flavor. With the right amount of fresh garlic and parsley seasoning, this is one fish you won't let go.

If you listen closely enough, you'll hear the sizzle. Don't let the juice hit you in the eye.

Eggplant, Tomato and Mozzarella Pasta with Mint

This was so unbelievably good - the pictures don't do it justice. I would eat it for a week straight. seriously. This is probably the best meal I have had in weeks - minus that crazily spicy appetizer I had at Char No. 4 that made my lips swell and my eyes tear up and that I think about while I lay in bed. Mmmm. hot.

I AGAIN found this in Real Simple. Shout out of thanks to Nicole for buying that bridal edition this summer which in turn got me a whole year free. The only thing I did differently was I used rigatoni instead of penne - sometimes I get tired of penne and like to change it up. You can use any type of pasta.

Serves 2 with leftovers
Ingredients

-1/2 box/bag of pasta
-olive oil
-1 medium eggplant cut into 1/2 inch pieces
-cherry tomatoes halved. I also used some cocktail tomatoes
-1 clove of sliced garlic
-crushed red pepper
-salt and black pepper
-fresh mozzarella cut into slices
-torn fresh mint leaves

Cook the pasta. While the water is heating up chop the necessary ingredients.

Heat some olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the eggplant and cook it until golden brown and tender - probably 8 to 10 minutes. Don't let it burn - keep it moving. Do the hustle! Add the tomatoes, garlic, red pepper and salt and pepper. The crushed red pepper gave it excellent heat while eating it, so base how much you add on how hot you like it - that's what she said. Toss all together for about 3 minutes or until pasta is done cooking.

Plate your pasta and add the skillet mixture on top with the mozzarella. Add any olive oil if necessary. Sprinkle the mint on top.

Wild Berry-Glazed Chicken with Spinach

This was a great dish! I again was inspired by something I saw in Real Simple, but I decided to change it up a little bit. The original recipe called for red-currant preserves instead of mixed berry preserves and golden raisins instead of candied pecans. I couldn't find red-currant preserves at the supermarket, although they did have black-currant preserves. I didn't know really what I was getting myself into though, and I fearfully pictured some horrendous tasting black chicken that would cause Dan to run for the hills. As for the pecans, well, I explain that below. They are DELICIOUS and I had to try it. So glad I did.



Ingredients (Serves 2):
-1/2 cup mixed-jelly preserves (or other type)
-a dash of crushed red pepper
-2 pieces of bone-in and skin-on chicken
-a few tbsps of olive oil
-salt and pepper
-1 clove of garlic sliced
-1/2 cup of candied pecans (recipe below) or golden raisins for ease
-1 5oz package of fresh spinach

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the preserves and red pepper.

Place the chicken on a rimmed baking sheet (my interpretation of this is a cake pan, am I wrong? oh well) and rub it with olive oil and season it with salt and pepper. Bake it until it is cooked through, probably about 30 minutes or more. After about 25 mins baste it with the jelly mixture. I just brushed mine on with a pastry brush.

While the chicken finishes cooking, heat some more olive oil in a large frying pan. Toss in the sliced garlic and let it cook for about 2 minutes. Enjoy the smell, mmmm. Add the spinach and toss it until it wilts. Serve this with the chicken and with the candied pecans on top. yum. yum. yum. GREAT meal.

Candied Pecans

I made these tonight. wow. I went to a wedding labor day weekend and in the salad were candied pecans. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a huggee salad fan. I can choke it down to be polite, but I have never in my life craved a salad. Or even wanted a salad. However, these pecans at Darby's wedding helped disguise, for me, the more ominous beings on my plate - like lettuce.

It is so easy too - I am definitely going to be making these around the holidays.

Steps
-Preheat the oven to 275/300. Have a cookie sheet ready with parchment paper on it.
-Beat one egg white in a bowl until it is stiff. If you don't know what that means you should look it up. It will take a few minutes.
-Add about 1/2 cup of brown sugar
-add about 1 tbsp of cinnamon
-add a dash of vanilla extract.
-mix together

-Add regular pecans to this mixture. (When I made it I only had one bag which is about 1 1/2 cups of pecans. Ideally you would want more like 3 bags since I definitely had a lot of "candy" on my "candied pecans." I think it would definitely be better with a smaller ratio between the mixture and the pecans. You can see from the pictures that I could have used more pecans.)

-Deposit on parchment paper and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or more if necessary. Enjoy! Great gift idea!

Green and Kidney Bean Pasta "Salad"

I threw this together the other weekend when Steph and Alan came - I just have been soooo busy that I hadn't posted. I found the recipe in Real Simple and basically followed it to a T - so not a Summer original.

I made this actually during that little heat wave, so it was kind of appropriate because it had a light "summer" (ahh thank yah, thank yah very much) feel to it.

It is a quick dish so do this when you are crunched for time.

Total time: 20 minutes. Serves 2
0
Cook 4 ounces of penne. (Oppure, penne rigate per i chef italiani come me)
Add about a cup of halved green beans during the last 3 minutes or so of cooking. Drain. If you want this dish served cold, rinse with cold water. Otherwise set aside. Toss the pasta and green beans with 1 cup of rinsed kidney beans and chopped parsley (about 1/4 cup), grated Parm cheese (say 2 tbsp), 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix and eat.

Caprese Salad

Italian meets French - like me and Lauren! So last night Dan and I opted for a lighter, more euro friendly type meal. The sort of meal you could throw together while watching Glee and Biggest Loser (a night of indulgence? ridiculous).

The caprese salad was so good. I rinsed and sliced some ripe tomatoes. Then I sliced up some fresh mozzarella we bought at Stinky Brooklyn. I arranged these on a plate with some fresh basil I picked and also a little arugula we had leftover. I drizzled it with some EVOO and buon appetito or bon appetite.

We also bought some Pico, which is a soft goat cheese, and had it with some Salchichon sausage and fresh bread. It was like I was a misplaced wanna-be Roman on vacation in Paris all over again.

Baltimore Billy's Chicken Parmesan

Baltimore Bill. He comes by once in awhile, raises Cain and then, perhaps mercifully, leaves. I'm kidding. This is Dan, guest blogger. I'm here to write the tale of my best man's chicken parm. Sum and I listened to him brag about its awesomeness this weekend, and decided to give it a try (after he left, so as not to offend if we f***ed it up). In my humble opinion, we succeeded. I liked it so much that I took it to work for lunch the next day. Here are the details:

Ingredients

• Chicken breasts (the thicker, the better. We usually buy a pack of three--one for each of us for dinner, and one for me for the next day's lunch)
• Fresh lemon
• Milk
• Bread crumbs (ours are years old, I recommend fresher)
• Mozzarella cheese
• American cheese
• Tomato sauce
• Spaghetti
• Olive oil
• Parmesan cheese

In a frying pan, cook up the chicken, adding just a hint of olive oil. At the same time, get some water boiling for the pasta. Once the chicken is done cooking (cook it fully--you don't want to get sick like when that family at my church cooked chicken gizards years back and everyone hurled), dip it in a bowl full of squeezed lemon juice mixed with milk. Baltimore Bill just uses fresh lemon juice, but we wanted to make sure those crumbs stuck, so we added some milk. It looked curdy and nasty, but as they say, it all goes down the same! Then, dip the chicken boobs into the bread crumbs, coating the entire surface. The chicken should now be covered fully in bread crumbs.

Lay the chicken into a broiling pan (with aluminum foil on the bottom--we don't like crusties when doing dishes), pour on some tomato sauce, and drop some american and mozzarella cheese on top. Put these in the broiler at 425 for about 10 minutes. Simultaneously, cook up your spaghetti so it's all good and ready when the chicken is done. You'll know that your chicken is ready for carnage when the cheese is melted.

Heat up some more sauce for the pasta, and drop the chicken, pasta, and sauce on the plate. I always sprinkle some parmesan cheese on my pasta. That's right--three cheeses for one meal. Anything less would be uncivilized. Top it all off with a big ole glass of milk and you'll  be feeling full.

Baltimore Bill, thanks for allowing us the pleasure of devouring your chicken boobs. Sum, thanks for being an awesome cooking--and life--companion.

Arugula Pizza 2

I'm telling you, nothing tastes better on a pizza than fresh arugula. mmm. Dan and I are continuing to expand our pizza repetoire. We made this bad boy Thursday night. Fresh prosciutto, cherry tomatoes, arugula, green pepper, olive oil and, that oh so necessary item on every pizza - oregano! mm.

Other recipes coming up tonight.

Lazy Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Yum. This is a great dish to have while watching a game or match (US Open anyone?) or to bring to a party.

I made such an easy version you can microwave it instead of baking it, who needs to know the difference? If you do want to bake it, heat the oven to about 350 degrees and bake for about 30 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top first.

Ingredients
-1 package of frozen chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry. If you do things last minute like me you can always nuke it too.
-8oz or a little less of softened cream cheese. I prefer a little less just because I don't really want too much cream cheese flavor.
-1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese. I used a mexican cheese mix, you can also use cheddar, etc.
-1 can of artichoke hearts drained and chopped
-2 cloves of minced garlic
-sprinkle some parmesan in, I used maybe 1/2 a cup.

Mix together and microwave for 2 minutes and mix it, then microwave a little more so it is hot throughout.  I mixed it several times.

Other recipes call for some mayonnaise, sour cream and/or water chestnuts. Totally up to you. If you want it more moist then I would add some mayo or sour cream.

I served mine in a bowl. If you want to bake it you can use a casserole dish. It goes great with tostito chips or pita bread.

Grazin' Angus Acres Ribs

Sunday we went to the Farmer's Market at Carroll Park. I grabbed two ears of what was probably the best corn I have ever eaten and the man, not surprisingly, was quickly seduced by the table for Angus Acres. What can I say, my man recognizes a good side of meat (me). The guy working there selected two packages of ribs after sizing us up and told us about how a few weeks ago they got a call for about 350 servings of their meat. They thought they couldn't handle an order that size and at first said no. After crunching the numbers they decided they could do it.... so now we got to eat the same meat served (exclusively) at Chelsea Clinton's wedding, cool huh?

We did a slooooooww bake on this guy. First we marinated the meat (in a deep metal pan) in some red wine (save a good amount to go with the meal!), brown sugar, olive oil, salt and pepper for at least an hour. Flip it after 30 minutes to make sure both sides get well soaked (marinade should reach the halfway mark of the meat to make this process even). Preheat the oven to 250 degrees for some slllooow, hot lovin'. Sear the meat on top of the stove in a frying pan  for just a few minutes on each side to lock in the moisture. Pour the marinade in a bowl before you return the seared meat to the pan. Cook in the oven for as long as the meat decides. Keep brushing on marinade to maintain the moisture. We cooked ours for about 3 hours..

It was fun watching the man revert back to his primitive state. His plate when done is the last picture... scary. He said it rivaled Peter Luger's and the best meat he had in Brazil - not bad.

ENJOY!

Banana Bread

So I froze two bananas the other day because Dan and I were going home for a week. I figured I could make banana bread with it when we came back. This was my first time making it and to be honest I wasn't sure if I even liked banana bread-I just knew Dan did. So I used my mom's recipe and... it was delicious! I was nervous when I was scooping out the mushy banana (really, I almost yacked it seemed so gross) but I have been scarfing it down all weekend. This stuff is delicious.

Ingredients
-1/2 cup of butter (softened at room temp)
-1/2 cup of honey
-2 eggs
-2 cups of flour
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/4 tsp salt
-2 or 3 large ripe bananas
-1 cup of chopped walnuts

Cream the butter and add honey and beaten eggs. Add dry ingredients alternately with mashed bananas to the butter mixture. Add nuts.

Bake 60 minutes at 350 degrees in a loaf pan that has been sprayed with pam or buttered. (if using small loaf pans like I did you might cook it for less time) Check for doneness with a toothpick. Enjoy!

Capellini with Prosciutto and Nectarines

Considering it has been sooooo long since I really cooked something new I decided to be pretty adventurous on this one. I also knew I wanted something that didn't involve much cooking because it was HOT last night. This was really yummy, especially on a summer night because of the nectarine slices in it.


Ingredients (for 2 with leftovers)
-1/2 box capellini (or other) pasta
-1/8 pound of prosciutto
-1 nectarine (or 2)
-1 tomato (or 2)
-any greens, like spinach or basil
-fresh Parmesan and feta cheese
-extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
-1 clove of garlic

Get water boiling for your capellini pasta. The actual pasta cooks really fast because it is so thin. So you can prepare everything before you even put the pasta in the water.

While the water heats up, chop up 1 or 2 nectarines, 1 or 2 tomatoes, and 1 garlic clove. Wrap the prosciutto slices around a few of the nectarines (not all!). I only wrapped 6 nectarine slices. The rest of the prosciutto will be saved for sandwiches.

Once the water starts boiling cook the pasta, it only takes about 2 minutes. Drain the pasta and put the pasta, some Parmesan cheese, the chopped tomato, nectarine (not the slices with prosciutto), garlic, greens, and some EVOO in a saute pan. Mix together and let it warm over the stove. Plate this and sprinkle some more Parmesan cheese and crumble some feta on top. Place prosciutto wrapped nectarine slices on top and voila! Enjoy.

and it makes fiance happy too!

Salmon Loaf

This is from Betty Crocker's Cookbook

It cooks for two, or you can double it and make a full loaf (don't need to add salt). Very healthy.

1 can of (15 1/2 ounces each) salmon drained and flaked (reserve liquid)

1 egg

milk

1 1/2 cups coarse cracker crumbs

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp chopped onion

dash of pepper

Mix salmon and egg. Add enough milk to reserve salmon liquid to measure 3/4 cup. Stir liquid mixture and remaining ingredients into salmon mixture. Spoon lightly into greased loaf pan (use greased parchment paper or foil for easy cleanup). 9x5x3 inches. If following the half recipe, this will only fill half the pan-shape as necessary. Bake uncovered in 350 degree oven until done, about 45 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedges if desired.

Wini's Lemon Tea Bread

So good as finger food at a party or with tea!



-Juice 1 lemon and combine with 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl. Set aside until bread finishes baking.

-Grate the rind (zest) of 1 lemon and combine with ½ cup of shredded coconut in a small bowl. Set aside.

-Sift together 1 ½ cups of flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp salt in a bowl. Set aside.

In a bowl pour a ½ cup of milk to add alternately with dry ingredients. Set aside.

Combine 6 tbsp butter with 1 cup of sugar and 2 eggs in a large bowl.

After the butter, 1 cup of sugar and two eggs are well creamed with electric mixers, put the electric mixer away. Alternately add, by folding motions, the flour mixture and the ½ cup of milk. Then fold in coconut/lemon rind mixture. Bake 350 degrees in a greased loaf pan for about 55 minutes. If the top browns before loaf tests done (a clean toothpick), place foil on top. Top with lemon juice/sugar mix while loaf still is hot from the oven.

Enjoy!

Camping 3: Pasta with Pesto and Honey Glazed Carrots

This was a quick one. We brought our own pesto from home (see my archived recipe) and cooked up some pasta. Then we chopped up some fresh carrots (Again from Foggy Meadow Farms) and poured in some honey since we didn't have any brown sugar. It was delicious and healthy...and light! This is especially good if you eat at the Wheel Inn that morning...oof!

Camping 2: Pork Loin and Green Beans

Buy pork loin. Put over fire. Slather in BBQ sauce. Cook through. Steam fresh green beans from uncle's farm. Foggy Meadow Farms in Benson, Vermont.

eat.