Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins

Grrubere humarhehr yeosmegerrb? ...... errr....sorry...my mouth was full with these INCREDIBLE muffins. What I asked was, "Have you ever tasted a better blueberry muffin than this one?" (or at least that's what I was thinking...) Ina has certainly outdone herself with this one, let me tell you. I've seen her make them a couple of times...you know the show...the one where she has her girlfriend's daughter and her college friends over for brunch and they ask to live with her forever because she's an incredible cook...well, uh...most of that is my fantasy but you get the drift. :) Well, in my infinite search to find the perfect recipes to make for my family when they visit for a weekend on the rare occasion, I firmly decided to make these muffins for their most recent visit. And what else was I going to serve for breakfast that morning? Nothing. That's right. Nothing. Except coffee of course. Breakfast on a Sunday with the family in town in usually a mid-morning event (eggs, bacon, sausages, toast/bagels, and sometimes pancakes) and since I had already made a big pot of [yes you guessed it] Ina's split pea soup for lunch that afternoon, I didn't want to make a huge breakfast that would ruin appetites for later in the day.

What I didn't realize was that these muffins would be the be all and end all of blueberry muffins. I was totally expecting to get huge raves over my soup that afternoon but I don't think I've ever heard as many mmms and oh-my-gods as I did over breakfast. In fact, I think the soup may have been a let-down after the morning muffins. lol The muffins were absolutely perfect in every sense of the word. They were the kind of muffins where the whole muffin was eaten, not just the top. They were sweet. They were moist. They were blueberry-y.

They were not what I expected when I opened the oven to check on them with just a few minutes of the cooking time remaining. The muffin tops had totally spilled over into one another and became a muffin top mass. Thankfully they didn't run over the sides of the muffin tins onto the bottom of the oven but nonetheless, I totally panicked. Crap! What to do, what to do? With just a few minutes left, there wasn't really much I could do but hope that they tasted ok even though they didn't look like your typical muffin. My mom and my aunt soothed my muffin anxiety and I talked myself through the thoughts of my last muffin disaster 4 years ago, which coincidentally was the last time I made muffins. After a few extra minutes added to the cooking time, I took the muffins out, let them cool for a few minutes, cut the tops with a spatula, and gently removed them. They all came out in one piece. First sigh of relief. They all sat upright on the cooling rack. Second sigh. The third sigh came when I took that first bite and the muffin melted in my mouth. ahhhhh sooooo goooooood.....

Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins
source: Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Family Style

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 half-pints fresh blueberries, picked through for stems
  

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place 16 paper liners in muffin pans (I just greased the muffin cups). In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, sour cream, and milk. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed. Fold in the blueberries with a spatula and be sure the batter is completely mixed.
2. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans (I used an ice cream scoop - works great!), filling each cup just over the top, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned on top and a cake tester comes out clean.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Yields: 14 muffins (using the ice cream scoop)

Apple Crisp

What would fall be without our favorite apple crisp recipe? I discovered this recipe years ago in my mom's old (read: vintage) Women's Day alphabetized volumes of recipes - yes, you may have seen them either in your mom's or grandmother's kitchen or at yard/tag sales. As much bad press as some vintage cookbooks have gotten in the "foodie" community, this collection of recipes continually has provided me with tried and true recipes. One of which being this fantastic apple crisp recipe. It really is the only apple crisp recipe I've ever used and Kyle and I love it so much that I don't ever feel the need to find a new one to try. Our love for this recipe is so great, in fact, that our wedding reception centerpieces were classy buckets full of apples (DIY) and we gave out this recipe (my slightly modified version of it) for our guests to take home. (and if I remember when I get home later, maybe I'll post a pic of the centerpieces here)

Apple Crisp
source: adapted from the Women's Day collection of recipes

• 2 lbs cooking apples, peeled and sliced (about 5 1/2 cups) I recommend Macoun or Granny Smith
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon plus extra to sprinkle on top
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup cold butter, diced

1. Put apples in a shallow 2qt casserole; add water.
2. Combine sugars, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and flour in a separate bowl. Cut in butter with two knives or a pastry blender. Spoon mixture evenly over apples. Sprinkle additional cinnamon on top (to taste).
3. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and back for an additional 30 minutes.

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

Serves: 6-8

Show me the gravy!

As a kid, my parents drove my brother and I all over the place: Niagara Falls, Disney World, Connecticut, Montana/Idaho, Hershey Park (PA). Driving truly sucked, especially with a bratty little brother in the back seat the whole ride...but that's another story for the couch so I won't go into it here. I suppose as a kid, I never really appreciated the opportunities to see the country that driving provided (which is why I self-medicated with Dramamine), but I did see the opportunities in tasting the local foods wherever we drove through or ended up. There's no question what my favorite local fare was and I looked for it on every menu at every truck stop, Denny's or IHOP we ever stopped at: Biscuits and Gravy. :: insert Homer Simpson drooling sound here :: It's not a dish that you can readily find here in the Northeast so it's always such a treat to order it, especially when I'm down South.

However, now I don't have to wait until I travel to find it!! My mom cut out a recipe for Biscuits and Gravy a few years ago from her local newspaper and it turns out that it's a wonderful and fairly authentic recipe that I've been making ever since. I'm sure the recipes in the South call for some form of lard to enhance the flavor (and of course further clog the arteries) but this recipe is pretty basic, and it's certainly not lacking in flavor. It happens to be Kyle's #1 breakfast request for special occasions, weekends hosting guests, and holidays - but I refuse to make it for any sort of random day because I feel that we should have a "special" breakfast made only a couple times of year so that the novelty of this great meal doesn't wear out.

Our most recent indulgence was for Thanksgiving morning breakfast and even with the hustle and bustle of preparing a turkey dinner for later in the day, there was still plenty of time to put this in our bellies because it's so easy to make. For this occasion, I didn't make biscuits from scratch (but have in the past), and used a can of refrigerated biscuits - no shame in that! I've never actually used the biscuit recipe below so I can't attest to how it turns out but it sounds like it would turn out OK. Please note that I've made some changes to the gravy recipe, which you can see in italics.

Biscuits and Gravy

source: Bev Bennett in Newsday, April 6, 2003

For the biscuits:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold butter, cut into pieces
• 4 to 5 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp minced chives (optional)

1. Combine flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a bowl. Cut in butter until mixture contains small chunks of butter. Add 4 tbsp milk and stir. If dough is stiff, add remaining tbsp of milk. Knead in chives. Dough should be soft, but not sticky.
2. Pat dough to 3/4 inch thickness on lightly floured board. Cut into 4 circles with 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake in 425 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
3. Place on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before splitting open. Makes 4 biscuits.

For the gravy:

• 8 oz bulk (ground) pork sausage in sage or hot seasonings (I use 12oz of ground breakfast sausage - either Jones' or Jimmy Dean)
• 1 tbsp* flour
• 1 cup* milk or combination of milk and half-and-half (should be room temperature)
• freshly ground black pepper (lots!!)

1. While biscuits are baking, brown sausage in a medium, non-stick skillet (it doesn't have to be non-stick). Do not pour off fat.
2. Add flour to sausage and fat and stir to make a paste. Stir (whisk) in milk or half-and-half and cook over low heat (medium works better), stirring frequently, until sausage is hot and gravy is smooth and thick. (The mixture will need to come to a simmer before you get the right consistency.) Season generously with pepper.
3. To serve, split each biscuit in half and top with 1/4 of the gravy mixture. Serve immediately. Serves 2.

*Notes:

1. You might need a little extra flour and milk if you use extra sausage.
2. Usually my gravy is a bit more "runny" than what these pics show but I was running low on milk that morning and had to make sure I had enough to last through the remainder of the holiday.
3. This recipe easily doubles but I don't recommend fully doubling the milk. Add as much milk as necessary to bring your gravy to your desired thickness.

Tara's Ultimate: Mac n Cheese

Cheese is love. Is there any dish more comforting than mac n cheese? You'd be hard pressed to find someone to dispute this and even harder pressed to find 5 people who are in love with the same mac n cheese recipe. It seems like there are hundreds out there...some similar, some very different, some with one type of cheese, some with at least 7 types (really though, why complicate one of the most basic comfort foods?), some with veggies, some with tuna, some with meat, some out of a box with cheesy powder, some out of a box with cheesy goop...overall, it really could be considered one of the world's most perfect dishes - dairy, carbs, protein, and veggies if one chooses to add them. What American doesn't love mac n cheese?? (oh and PS - I didn't arrange the cheese in the pic above in the shape of a heart; it just happened to fall that way as I was grating it.)

It's been at least 6 months since I've made my traditional mac n cheese. However, in that time, I did find a recipe for a more sophisticated mac n cheese; one that calls for prosciutto but when I decided to make my favorite version, I didn't feel like spending $20/lb on some extra protein for the meal. I was tempted to try Tyler Florence's Ultimate Mac n Cheese after oddly enough catching that specific show on Food Network yesterday (last week I put mac n cheese on the menu for last night) but decided that since I hadn't made mac n cheese in so long, I wanted to make sure that it was gonna be great - I passed over Tyler's recipe for fear of it being too different and not satisfying our craving for good mac n cheese.

Now, a little background on this recipe...it's not some secret family recipe that has been passed down through the ages. Simply enough, it comes from the back of the Mueller's elbow macaroni box. However, it's the only recipe my mom has used for years and as I was preparing to move out on my own (now nearly 6 years ago), the only thing I asked for was for my mom to write down the recipe. Instead, she cut it off the next box she used and slipped it in my Christmas stocking (I moved right after New Years). Growing up, she used to add tuna fish (canned) and peas to the dish to round it out as a full meal but I stick to the basics. So yes, if you're wondering, I'm still using the exact recipe mom cut out for me (although I do tweak the types of cheese I use depending on what I have in the fridge - see below). When I misplaced the recipe card once a couple of years ago, I cut another one out of the Mueller's elbow macaroni box and believe it or not, it wasn't the same recipe! I about died when I realized that I didn't have the "right" one and immediately got on the phone with my mom for some help. Luckily, the "right" one resurfaced a few months later and I now keep it in a very safe spot. So here's my Ultimate Mac n Cheese....

Mac n Cheese
source: Mueller's elbow macaroni box

• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard (optional
• 2 1/2 cups milk (I always use skim)
• 2 tbsp margarine or butter
• 2 cups (8oz) shredded American or cheddar cheese, divided (this time I used cheddar, fontina, and gouda)
• 8 oz Mueller's elbow macaroni, cooked 5 minutes and drained (I don't necessarily use Mueller's elbows and usually cook them for closer to 6-7 minutes)
• 2-3 tbsp ground-up cornflakes (not in the original recipe)

1. In medium saucepan combine corn starch, salt, dry mustard and pepper; stir in milk.
   Add margarine/butter. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil 1 minute. Remove from heat.
2. Stir in 1-3/4 cups (425 ml) cheese until melted. Add elbows.
3. Pour into greased 2-quart casserole. Sprinkle with reserved cheese.
4. Bake uncovered in 375 degree (200 C.) oven 25 minutes or until lightly browned. I bake for 15 then sprinkle the ground-up corn flakes to the top and continue cooking for 10 minutes.

Prep time: 12 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Serves: 6

Girls Fondue Night

Bringin' back a little of the 70s here but who cares? I've got 2 fondue pots and had the itch to use them recently as I was planning on having a couple of girlfriends from college for dinner while I had a dear friend from freshman year of college stay for the weekend. (As an aside: I went to a small state school in [way] upstate New York for my freshman year of college and then transferred to another school in Connecticut where I finished my final 3 years. My friend, Kristin (Kris), and I lived on the same floor freshman year and have remained friends ever since - it's been 10 years now since I transferred to CT - yikes how the time does fly!! The pic below is us with a couple friends from that year. I'm at the top, Kris is on the bottom right with the hat on.)

OK, enough memories and back to the food. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of the fondue but I can truly say that both fondues (pizza and Italian cheese) came out great and the fondue idea overall was a big hit. We were able to sit around, pick away, and chat while the fondue vanished. It really was quite a relaxing dinner. Instead of a meal I was slaving over in the kitchen to prepare, I had the pizza fondue all cooked before the girls arrived and kept it warm on the stove while we had appetizers. For the cheese fondue, I prepped everything a day in advance (including the dipping items) so literally all I had to do was toss the ingredients in a pot on the stove, cook to the right consistency, and pour it in the fondue pot. I opted for the electric fondue pot for the cheese fondue so that the heat could be kept a bit more stable and put the pizza fondue in a traditional fondue pot with a Sterno underneath (covered half-way because the flame was too high).

As I mentioned, both fondues went over with rave reviews. For dipping items, I kept it simple: roasted garlic ciabatta bread, another kind of rustic bread called rustica (I don't make these things up), blanched broccoli florets, and red peppers cut to about 1 1/2" pieces. The cheese fondue had a real nice deep flavor with the combo of Gruyere and Pinot Grigio and the pizza fondue really does taste like pizza (it's a recipe my mom either found or made up years ago. She used to make it on cold winter nights and we ate while sitting in front of the fire.)

Overall it was a fun night with great friends and delicious food and I'm thinking about making it a yearly tradition so we'll see what kind of fondue next year brings!

Italian Cheese Fondue
source: Giada De Laurentiis

• 8 ounces grated Fontina
• 8 ounces grated Gruyere
• 5 teaspoons cornstarch
• 6 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, chopped
• 2 cups dry white wine (such as Pinot Grigio)
• Freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons chopped chives
• Bite-size pieces of focaccia, sliced salami, fresh fennel, Belgian endive, steamed broccoli florets and asparagus spears, for dipping

1. Toss the Fontina and Gruyere cheese with the cornstarch in a medium bowl to coat.
2. Saute the pancetta in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat until crisp and golden, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a plate. Pour off any excess oil.
3. Pour the wine into the same saucepan and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to medium. Whisk 1 handful of the cheese mixture into the wine until it is almost melted. Repeat with the remaining cheese mixture in about 4 more batches. Continue whisking until the cheese is completely melted and the fondue bubbles, about 1 minute. Stir in all but 2 tablespoons of the pancetta. Season the fondue with pepper, to taste.
4. Transfer the cheese mixture to a fondue pot. Sprinkle with the remaining pancetta and chives. Set the pot over a candle or a canned heat burner. Serve with focaccia and vegetables.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10-15 minutes

Serves: 8-10

Pizza Fondue

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 2 cans (10.5oz) pizza sauce (I used about 2 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce)
• 1 1/2 tsp fennel seed
• 1 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 2 1/2 cups (10oz) shredded cheddar
• 1 cup (4oz) shredded mozzarella
• Italian or French bread for dipping

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, brown onion and ground beef. Drain.
2. Stir in sauce and seasonings and heat through. Add cheese by handfuls, stirring each handful until cheese is almost fully melted.
3. Pour into fondue pot and keep hot while serving. Serve with bread cut into pieces or serve over toasted English muffins for lunch.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Serves: 6-10

Turkey Chili

Yes, fall has arrived! In spite of the 80-90 degrees temperatures here in CT this week, I'm moving full steam ahead into fall with some warm meals. Last night, turkey chili was on the menu and what a treat this always is!

Years ago my mom swapped out ground beef for ground turkey and tomato sauce for salsa in her chili recipe and I've taken that recipe and modified it a little further. In my grocery store, I've found 33% reduced sodium chili seasoning packets (by McCormick) and organic salsa that has about 50% the amount of sodium as regular salsa. I tend to be very sensitive to sodium and thus try to control for it as much as possible in everything I cook and eat. Because the ground turkey usually is slightly more than 1lb and the seasoning packet calls for just 1lb of meat, I've found that a few extra seasonings is necessary and you'll see what I add below.

This truly is one of my most favorite cool-weather meals yet I'm still surprised on the number of compliments I get when I serve this (maybe I'm surprised because of how easy it is to make!)...but I hope you love this chili recipe as much as I do and that you'll share it with every

Turkey Chili

adapted from my mom's kitchen

• 1 to 1 1/4 lbs ground turkey
• 1 lower sodium chili seasoning packet
• 1 jar organic salsa
• 1/2 jar of water (the salsa jar)
• 1 (15oz) can red or dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 3/4 tsp ground coriander

1. In a large frying or saute pan over medium-high heat, brown turkey. Drain if necessary.
2. Reduce heat to low and stir in the remainder of the ingredients. Cook on low for 10-15 minutes.

Extras:

• Fixin' suggestions: sour cream, shredded cheddar, diced onions, scallions, chives, tortilla chips.
• Serving suggestions: over rice, on tortilla chips with shredded cheddar or Monterey jack cheeses as chili nachos, as chili dogs or chili burgers, or layer in an 8x8 baking dish with cream cheese, shredded cheddar or Monterey jack cheese, and scallions and bake for 15 minutes at 375 for a hot dip.

Prep time: 0 minutes

Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Serves: 4-6

My blog's inspiration...

The smell of homemade spaghetti sauce, above all other smells of food cooking, is what brings me back home to my parents' house as a kid. It has been shown scientifically that the olfactory sense triggers memory and my story is yet another testament to this science. My parents made sauce (or gravy as my 100% Italian dad still calls it) only a couple of times a year but it was frequently enough to allow the smell of it cooking in my own home to evoke such memories even today.

I remember my dad pouring over the stove working on his masterpiece: spicing up the gravy, rolling out the meatballs, and making sure that the piece of pork he would soon put in the pot to stew all day was big enough. It always was and was often a "bone" of contention between my parents because my mom always thought the sauce had enough fat in it from the meatballs and sausages already; for my dad, his gravy wasn't complete without a big hunk of pork. Some of my greatest memories as a kid were spaghetti and meatball nights where my mom would have my brother and I put on our dad's old work shirts as make-shift bibs to catch whatever red mess was inevitably about to come. Ricotta cheese was ALWAYS on the table those nights and would act as the glue in our bowls as we all competed to see who could twist a forkful of spaghetti on their fork the best without a single strand hanging off. (It was always my dad...afterall, he DID have the most practice under his belt from weekly - Sundays - spaghetti and meatball dinners with his family as a kid.) Those were great times always to be remembered.

Over the years, I've asked my dad to write out his recipe but he's always told me that he doesn't measure the amounts of anything he puts in there and so the sauce is never the same every time (although always delicious). A couple of years ago, I figured I had watched him make it enough times to feel confident enough to make it myself. And since then, my gravy has never come out the same way because I've never written the recipe down either...until now. I figured sharing my recipe might help others overcome their own fears of cooking what seems to be a monumentous meal, but in reality, is still a bunch of indregidents cooked together in the right proportions.

Note: I didn't measure my amounts either (the apple doesn't fall far) but I've got a pretty good estimate about how much of everything I used.

My Homemade Gravy

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 5 gloves garlic, minced
• 3-4 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
• 2 tsp dried or 2 tbsp fresh rosemary
• 2 tbsp salt
• 3 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
• 4 (32oz) cans tomatoes (I used 2 pureed, 1 crushed, 1 sauce this time)
• 2 cups water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/3 cup parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, torn or chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large stockpot or dutch oven (I used my 7 1/4 quart dutch oven) to medium heat. Heat olive oil and cook onions under almost soft. Add garlic, salt, pepper, and all of the herbs and cook, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes. Add tomato paste, stir to combine and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring and being careful not to burn the mixture. Reduce heat to medium-low to low heat and add the tomatoes, water, and sugar. Cover and cook for 6-7 hours, stirring occasionally. Add parsley and basil 30 minutes before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste before serving.

If you want to add meatballs, sausages, or a piece of pork to the pot, go for it. This time I slowly cooked 6 Italian hot sausages in a frying pan over low heat for about 10 minutes then added them to the pot to cook with the gravy for the 6-7 hours. I also quickly braised a pork loin (cut in 3 equal pieces) and added the pieces to the sauce for the entire cooking time as well. The pork literally fell apart when cutting it and the sausages were perfectly tender. I didn't make meatballs this time because I ran out of room in the pot with the pork and sausages.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes plus 6-7 hours.

Serves: ALOT

I have about 3 1/2 quarts of gravy leftover and have frozen most of it.

Mom's Banana Bread

Why I don't make banana bread more often is beyond me (aside from the fact that Kyle keeps throwing my browning bananas out before I have the chance to stick them in the fridge!). This is always such a nice treat and I'm so happy to have my mom's recipe for banana bread that I have been eating since before I could remember. She always managed to sneak some finely chopped nuts in there but now that I'm an adult, I don't have to put the nuts in if I don't want to. hmph. :) I don't like 'em and Kyle is allergic to 'em so our relationship with nuts works out beautifully for both of us - I never, ever cook with them nor do I buy anything at the store that contains them.

Peanut butter is my only exception and Kyle can eat both peanut butter and peanuts -but peanuts aren't technically nuts so they don't really count in the whole scheme of things. Speaking of peanut butter, go ahead and spread some on your banana bread the next time you eat it - it's truly a delight to the taste buds.

Banana Bread

• 1 egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 small or 2 large bananas, very ripe, mashed
• 1/4 cup butter, melted*
• 1/2 cup apple sauce*
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon*

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat egg. Add sugar, butter, applesauce, and bananas - beat on medium until well-blended. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon then slowly add to the banana mixture. Beat on low until well-blended but be sure not to overbeat.

Grease and flour (I use Pam for Baking spray) a loaf pan and pour in mixture. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Bread will be a dark brown colored (it won't be burned, don't worry) and will bounce back to the touch (check doneness with a knife as well).

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Cook time: 50-60 minutes

Serves: 8-12

*Modifications

1. The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup butter but I used 1/2 cup applesauce (a 3.9 oz individual serving cup) and 1/4 cup butter. Normally if you sub applesauce for the butter or oil in a recipe, it is a 1:1 ratio. I added a little extra applesauce to make sure the bread stayed moist, which worked great.
2. Cinnamon isn't in my mom's recipe either but I figured that a little cinnamon never hurt anyone. :) It added a great underlying flavor and smelled wonderful while baking.

Chicken Parmigiana Pizza...

with a little extra umph. I had chicken parmigiana pizza for the first time about 7 years ago and thought it was the best creation ever. Well, Kyle having worked in a pizza restaurant for the better part of his high school years and for sometime afterwards, let's say that he picked up a few ideas...one of them being chicken, bacon, onions, and garlic pizza. Yes, this is the best pizza creation I have ever had. EVER. It's the chicken parmigiana pizza "kicked up a notch" (for lack of a better phrase).

How could you ever go wrong with bacon? Bacon was a new and scary concept to put on a pizza for me but they just don't do it in NY. I'd never seen it on a pizza menu, had never heard anyone order it, and had never ever heard anyone talk about bacon as a pizza topping...until I moved to Connecticut for college. Yes, I turned my nose up at the suggestion of it but to be honest, it wasn't too bad. And then Kyle stepped in and ordered this masterpiece one night a few years back and I knew it was love...love of this new pizza creation, that is. ;) This is our 'ol standby now.

Chicken, Bacon, Onions, and Garlic Pizza

• 3 Perdue Baked Italian Chicken Cutlets (they are pre-cooked), diced into bite-size pieces
• 1 onion, sliced and slowly sauteed until very soft (about 20 minutes)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2-3 slices bacon, almost fully cooked and chopped
• 8-12oz shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 cups tomato sauce (jarred or homemade)

See my pizza instructions and tips for how to roll out the dough and prep the pizza stone. Layer ingredients in any order. Cook for 12-13 minutes at 475 degrees.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 12-13 minutes
Serves: 4

A twist on your typical sausage and peppers

A long time ago, in the harried rush to get a weekend's worth of food, clothes, and activities for 4 people together before heading out on our family's boat to Davis Park on Fire Island, Long Island, my mom came across this recipe. Looking back, I can't imagine how she did all of this nearly every weekend from the end of June through Labor Day weekend - for at least 4 summers in a row. Nonetheless, I remember the night she tried this recipe on us as we squeezed into the 4 person dinette in the boat's cabin. At the age of 11 or 12, I know that I most likely turned up my nose at eating green peppers. Not a surprise, though, because I always turned my nose up at the prospect of having to eat green peppers. I ate the dish anyway (and probably picked out a lot of the peppers) but we all loved it! This was an easy and relatively inexpensive meal for my mom to make at home, pack in the cooler, and serve cold on the boat. By eating it cold, my mom avoided having to heat up the already overheated and sickeningly humid boat cabin...and it avoided my dad having to standing over the grill in the rain with an umbrella (how can you get through a few weekends in the summer without it raining??) trying to cook us dinner. This became a much-loved dish in my family for years to come.

Fast-forward about 10 or 12 years to the night when my whole family brought dinner to my grandma who was in the hospital recovering from a knee replacement. This was the main course that night and it was the first time Kyle had ever tried it (I wasn't much of a cook way back in the beginning of our relationship). We got in the car that night and he said to me, "That was SO good. You have to find out how to make that." And the rest is history. This is now in Kyle's "Top 3" which also consists of my chicken parmesan and our caprese pasta dish that I've yet to blog about.

Looking at the picture above, it does look a little plain, but trust me, it's full of flavor. The sausage explodes with flavor when cooking it down with the wine, and I've found out through trial and error that the type of wine I use really does matter. Neither of us are wine drinkers (Kyle is allergic and I think that I may be) so I don't usually have "good" drinking wine in the house and had been using regular cooking wine you can find in the grocery store. That all changed last night when the dish was taken to another level with the leftover Chardonnay from the fridge that I wanted to use up before it went bad. Amazing what some "good" drinking wine will do!! My mom's original recipe is below with a couple of my modifications below that.

Pasta, Sausage and Peppers

• 1 lb shells or other small macaroni
• 6 tbsp olive oil*
• 1 1/2 lbs sweet Italian sausage
• 1 cup dry white wine*
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 3 cups diced green peppers
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup parsley*
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese*

Cook pasta, drain, rinse in cold water, add 2 tbsp olive oil, and toss.* Remove sausage casings, cook meat thoroughly, stirring. Stir in wine and cook until thickened*. Remove this from pan, set aside. Add remaining oil* to skillet with onions and peppers, saute until almost tender, stirring often. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds. Return sausage to skillet. Add parsley and heat. Add sausage and cheese to pasta and toss well.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10-15 minutes

Serves: 8

*Modifications

1. I reduce the oil by half. We eat the dish hot so I don't rinse the pasta or toss it in olive oil. I use 1 tbsp to cook the sausage and 2 tbsp to saute the veggies.
2. My mom's version notes that you can substitute beer for wine if you don't have any wine.
3. If I don't already have parsley in the house, don't worry about it. If I don't have it, I won't by it just for this dish as I'm not a fan of it.
4. When has a little extra cheese hurt anyone? We always top the dish with some extra grated Parmesan.
   

Kyle's #1 Sweets Request

New dessert recipes (especially cookies) are tough to come by in my house because of the undying love that Kyle has for the Nestle's Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I made the allrecipes.com famous chocolate chip cookie recipe (fondly nicknamed BFCCC) and he almost had a heart attack because I was trying a new recipe. I wasn't trying to replace his favorite - I merely wanted to try something new. It didn't fly and all I got was a turned up nose to both the raw dough (which Kyle prefers) and the cooked cookie.

So back to the original recipe I go, and I do have to admit that I love it more than any other chocolate chip cookie recipe I've come across as well (so far!). These pictures makes them look hard and crunchy, but by making them bigger (with an ice cream scoop), they turn out soft and gooey. When I make them like this, I cook them an additional 6-9 minutes while carefully watching them towards the end.

All-time favorite

Most everyone has their own chicken parmigiana recipe but every so often, I come across someone who has never made this mouth-watering chicken dish. What gets me is that this just so basic, its a total wonder how some people think chicken parm is intimidating to make and at the same time, that there are so many different versions.

I am truly my father's daughter and aside from our shared affinity for rice pudding, peanut butter, and potato chips, my mom can attest that chicken parm is, hands-down, our numero uno favorite meal. (In fact, when my dad eats at seafood restaurants, he orders chicken parm rather than seafood - and does that make my mom steam!) I can't count the number of times this has appeared on my parent's dinner table, although usually only for special occasions, and to this day as I turn 29 years old this year, my mom still makes this for my birthday dinner when they celebrate with me.

While growing up, I have spent a lot of time watching this meal be prepared and have since incorporated many of my parent's methods into my own recipe, while adding some ideas that I've picked up along the way in an effort to personalize an already fantastic meal. So...here's my very special version...

Chicken Parmigiana

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to about 1/2 inch
• 1 egg
• dash of water
• 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup flour
• olive oil
• sliced mozzarella cheese
• 3 cups (approx) spaghetti sauce (either jarred or homemade), heated
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat olive oil (about 1/4 inch deep) in a heavy fry or saute pan. In 2 shallow bowls, beat an egg with a dash of water in one bowl, and combine bread crumbs and flour in the second bowl. Dip and coat chicken breasts in egg then dredge in bread crumb and flour mixture, pressing mixture onto chicken. Carefully place in hot oil. Cook until chicken is browned, then turn and brown the other side. When both sides are browned, carefully remove chicken and place on a paper towel on a plate to drain.

Cover the bottom of a 9x9 glass oven-safe dish with some sauce. Place drained chicken on top of sauce. Top with more sauce (reserving some for a side of spaghetti), Parmesan cheese, then sliced mozzarella. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 10 minutes, then remove foil and bake for an additional 5-8 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Serves: 2

P.S. - Please excuse the picture- it is a little dark and I let the cheese brown for a minute too long this time. :)

A New Favorite

Have I said before that I am in love with my panini maker? Probably not, but it's difficult to describe the feelings I have for a kitchen appliance without making my Kitchenaid mixer feel bad about itself.

I bought the long-sought-after panini maker a few months ago and only recently came up with the perfect specimen for a new sandwich (and it's my own recipe!!). Since Kyle has realized that cilantro is one of the most incredible herbs out there, he has begged me to make this sandwich...err...panini on a weekly basis. No problems with that here!!!
Cilantro-Garlic-Lime Chicken Panini

Step 1

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2" thick
• 2 limes
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Squeeze the juice of the limes into a large Ziploc bag and add cilantro, garlic, honey, and olive oil. Close the bag and squeeze contents to incorporate. Add the chicken and refridgerate for 8 hours.

Step 2

• 6 oz Monterey jack cheese, sliced and divided in half
• 1/2 roasted red pepper, cut into 1/2" strips
• 1/2 loaf ciabatta bread (or other artisan or thick-sliced sourdough bread)
• mayonnaise
• chipotle chili powder
• olive oil

Pre-heat grill and panini maker. Slice the bread into two equal pieces then slice open through the soft part of the bread. Drizzle some olive oil on to each piece of bread, place oil-side down on the panini maker, and close the lid. Grill chicken while bread is warming.

When chicken is cooked and bread is slightly browned (but not toasted), spread some mayo (to preference) on all slices of bread (the soft side only) and sprinkle with a minimal amount of chipotle chili powder (a little goes a long way!). Place a couple pieces of cheese on the bottom slices of bread, add a few strips of roasted red peppers, then top with chicken. Add more peppers, cheese, then top with the other sides of the bread.

Carefully put sandwiches back on panini maker and close the lid, pressing down slightly. Try to evenly distribute the weight of the lid over the sandwiches so that they aren't squishing out on one side. Remove sandwiches when cheese is starting to melt down the sides of the sandwich (takes about 3-5 minutes).

Prep time: Step 1 - 10 minutes; Step 2 - 10 minutes

Inactive prep time: 8 hours

Cook time: 12 minutes

Serves: 2

A Long-Time Favorite

Although this dish is not in it's traditional soup form, this is my parent's recipe. It has been one of my favorites since I was a kid (my brother and I used to shout, "YES!!" when my mom told us she was making pasta fagioli for dinner) and it has become one of Kyle's favorites (in his Top 3!). Its a great way to use leftover spaghetti sauce and bacon, and can be a real inexpensive meal to throw together if you have a few of the ingredients on hand already. We usually make the recipe with a pound of pasta so that there is always leftovers :) but you can easily half the recipe.

Pasta e Fagioli

• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 strips bacon (uncooked and cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups jarred or homemade spaghetti sauce
• 1 (15oz) can cannellini beans (rinsed and drained)
• 2 tablespoons grated pecorino-romano cheese, plus more for garnish
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• salt and pepper (pinches to taste)
• 1 lb ditalini pasta or other small tubular pasta (i.e., elbows)

In a deep stockpot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat then saute onions for 3 minutes. Add bacon and a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes, occasionally stirring to keep the bacon from burning. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Turn heat to medium-low, add sauce, beans, 2 tbsp pecorino-romano cheese, garlic powder, oregano, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine well and cook for 15 min. While sauce mixture is cooking, cook pasta until tender and drain well. Add pasta to sauce mixture and combine well. Turn heat to low and allow pasta and sauce flavors to "mingle" for 5 minutes. Serve with grated cheese and crusty bread, if desired.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 25-30 minutes

Serves: 6-8