I stumbled upon this recipe when I was in Florida this past Christmas.  The day I was leaving there was issues with the plane flying back to New York and long story short I didn’t get home until 10pm instead of 12 noon.  While I was waiting for my delayed flight, I was watching TV and found myself watching The Cooking Channel because I can only watch so much court shows on daytime TV.

The show that was on is called Against the Clock with Nigella Lawson. The show is basically the British version of 30 Minute Meals with Rachael Ray but with a more pleasing accent from the host and better recipes.  The episode theme was making a 3 course meal for an unexpected dinner party. She started with the dessert; instant chocolate mousse using marshmallows instead of eggs. I have been eyeing this recipe on Nigella’s site for a few weeks now and this past weekend I decided to make this mousse since I was keeping a low-key weekend (also NYC got its first snowfall of the winter and I didn’t feel like going out).

Here is Nigella’s excerpt from the page with the recipe:

Normally you need to make chocolate mousse a good few hours, or better still a day, before you want to eat it so the egg yolk sets and the whisked whites permeate everything with air bubbles. Forget that: here we have no yolks, no whites, no whisking, no waiting. Lack of raw egg, incidentally, also means that you might be happier giving the mousse to small children, though I certainly feel they should not be the only beneficiaries.

Ingredients

• 3 cups mini marshmallows
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 9 ounces best quality semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
• 1/4 cup hot water from a recently boiled kettle
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water in a heavy-based saucepan.

Put the saucepan on the stove, over heat, though keep it fairly gentle, to melt, stirring every now and again. Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile whip the cream with the vanilla until thick and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth, cohesive mixture.

Mixture should be well blended.

Pour or scrape into 4 or 6 glasses or small dishes and chill until you want to eat. The sooner the better!

Ratatouille is a traditional French Provençal stewed vegetable dish, originating in Nice. The full name of the dish is ratatouille niçoise. This French dish is perfect to make when its cold outside.  It is a healthy, low-fat stew and completely vegetarian.  I have made this a few times before but I couldn’t find the recipe I wrote down.  I went off memory when I made it last week.  I am sure the method I used isn’t exactly the French way to cook, but the flavors were there.  This dish is also good as it ages; it tastes better the next day warmed up than it does when its first made because all the flavors marinade together.  If you are dieting, this is a great meal to have as the yield is enough to last a full week and its a stew of all vegetables.

Ingredients

• 3-4 zucchini, chopped
• 3 large tomatoes, chopped
• 1 large green pepper, chopped
• 1 large eggplant, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• olive oil
• 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large pan and add onion and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent; about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large pot.

Add thyme, oregano, salt and pepper, and red pepper to the pot with the cooked onions and garlic. Pour in about 2 tbs of olive oil.

Add green peppers to the same pan and cook until wilted.

Cook the zucchini in the same pan until soft and add to the pot with the onions and spices.

Cook eggplant in the same pan until browned. Add to the pot when done.

Add chopped tomatoes to the pot. Stir all the vegetables together and cover. Turn heat down to a low setting. Occasionally check on the stew and stir.

Cook with cover on for a minimum of an hour. The longer this is cooked, the better the flavors will be. Turn off heat and remove the cover. Allow the juices to evaporate before serving.

Served with marinara sauce.

Last weekend I was invited to an Italian themed pot-luck dinner party.  It was agreed that instead of making large dishes that everyone would make appetizers.  I was trying to think of something to make and my friend Katie sent me the link to this recipe from Tasting Table. As I read the recipe it seemed easy enough just a lot of prep work so I decided to prepare most of it at home and then fry them once I got to the party.  These ended up being a massive hit and they were eaten up really quickly.

Here is the excerpt from Tasting Table:

Eggplant is a persnickety vegetable: It can easily turn bitter or get lost under heavy cheese sauces. But at New York’s bustling new Spasso restaurant, chef Craig Wallen gives the creamy vegetable its deserved attention in a dish that’s a mash-up of two Italian classics: eggplant parm and Sicilian arancini. By substituting eggplant for the fried rice ball’s traditional risotto filling–and flavoring it with basil, garlic and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese–the earthy vegetable shines at its brightest. Light and crisp, these unconventional arancini can be served alone or, better yet, with warm marinara sauce as an homage to their eggplant parm predecessors.

Ingredients

• 2 large eggplants (about 2½ pounds total)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
• 8 basil leaves, finely chopped
• ¼ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shredded
• ¼ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
• Salt
• All-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 cup prepared unseasoned breadcrumbs
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Marinara sauce, for serving (optional)

Preheat the oven to 450°.

Place the eggplants on a baking sheet and drizzle lightly with the olive oil. Bake until the inside of the eggplants is soft and the outside is charred, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the eggplants from the oven and, when cool enough to handle, remove and discard the skins.

Place a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl. Chop the eggplants into ½-inch pieces and place in the strainer to drain

Transfer the eggplant to a large bowl. Add the garlic, basil, Parmigiano-Reggiano and red-pepper flakes and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt.

Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until cool to the touch.

To prepare the arancini, dust a baking sheet lightly with flour and set aside. Using your hands, form the eggplant mixture into 1-inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs and water. Place the breadcrumbs in another bowl.

Add enough vegetable oil to a large, heavy saucepan so you’ll be able to completely submerge the arancini. Heat the oil to 350°. Dip one eggplant ball into the egg, allow the excess drip off, then roll in the breadcrumbs. Carefully place the breaded ball in the oil and fry until deep-golden brown and crispy, about 1 to 1½ minutes. Remove with a slotted spatula and place on paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining eggplant mixture until all the arancini are fried. Serve immediately with warm marinara sauce, if using.

I got this recipe from a Food and Wine Magazine email that I receive every other day with great recipes that are healthy and easy to make. This soup is really easy to make because half the ingredients the recipe calls for are already cooked for you. To save time I bought the rotisserie chicken from the store already cooked and I used the boil-in-a-bag rice since it only takes about 8 minutes to cook.

Here is the excerpt from F&W’s site:

Avgolemono is a classic sauce of chicken broth, egg yolks and lemon juice; the addition of a bit more chicken broth, rice and shredded chicken turns it into a satisfying soup.

Ingredients

• 4 cups chicken broth
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 cups cooked white rice, warmed
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 rotisserie chicken, meat pulled from the bones and coarsely shredded (1 lb)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

In a large saucepan or stock pot, season the chicken stock with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.

Transfer 1 cup of the hot stock to a blender. Add 1/2 cup of the rice, the egg yolks and lemon juice and puree until smooth.

Stir the puree into the simmering stock along with the chicken and the remaining 1 1/2 cups of rice and simmer until thickened slightly, 10 minutes.

Stir in fresh dill and serve.

When I was in Florida for Thanksgiving, I was watching the Food Network because there wasn’t anything else to watch.  Barefoot Contessa was on and she was making this recipe.  She said that it is a French inspired sauce to pour over chicken or fish and that it was very easy to make.  As I was watching, I wrote down the ingredients and the methods she used.  I tried to find the recipe on Food Network’s site but I couldn’t find it so this post is basically going off of memory and what I have written down on a scrap piece of paper.

Ingredients

• 3-4 chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup  white wine
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, about 2 large or 3 small lemons
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 2 tbs cream
• 1/2 stick cold butter, cubed into small pieces
• salt and pepper to taste

Cook chicken breast in a large skillet with olive oil, salt and pepper until golden brown on each side. Place skillet in an oven that is pre heated to 400 degrees and cook chicken for about 20-25 minutes.

Add chopped shallot to another skillet on medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes (with no oil) until shallot becomes translucent.

Add the white wine and lemon juice.

Cook until the liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons.

Turn off heat and the cold butter cubes, cream and salt and pepper and stir into wine/lemon mixture until completely melted.

As butter melts, the sauce will begin to thicken. Once butter and cream is fully mixed in with the wine mixture pour sauce immediately over the chicken breasts.

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This treat is the perfect snack to serve or to bring to a party because it will receive a lot of complements and there definitely won’t be any left over.  I made this last week and brought it in to share with my co-workers.  Some people have had this before and the ones that haven’t are always amazed that saltines crackers are the main ingredients.  I don’t have a name for this and when I asked around to the people who know what this is they didn’t have a name either.  The word “bark” came up but that refers more to flat pieces of white chocolate with peppermint flakes.

The best thing about this snack is that its cheap and easy to make.  Usually you have most of the ingredients on hand in your kitchen and if you decide to make this you will have to stop at the store to get the chocolate.  This also doesn’t take much time to put together; the longest part is letting the finish product cool in the fridge for an hour.

Ingredients

Pre-heat the oven to 375°

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 sleeves of saltines
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 large bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line a baking sheet with foil and then cover with a single layer of saltines.

Over medium heat, melt the butter.

Add the brown sugar and mix into the butter.

Bring butter/sugar mixture to a boil and let boil for 3 minutes. It will start to look like caramel.

Pour over saltines and spread evenly.

Bake in the oven for about 5-7 minutes or until the butter/sugar mixture is bubbling.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over saltines when the caramel is still hot. The chocolate will start to melt from the heat. Smooth out chocolate and spread evenly over the top.

Cool in fridge for 1 hour or until chocolate is set. Peel off foil and break into pieces. Store in a tin or a plastic container with a lid.

I had a holiday party a few weekends ago at my apartment and I wanted to make something that I haven’t made before.  I have heard about Buffalo Chicken dip before so I decided I was going to make it for the party.  I love anything Buffalo flavored; chips, almonds, wings, etc.  After searching the web for recipes I decided to take a piece of each recipe and create my own.

A lot of the recipes I saw online called for canned chicken.  I have never heard of canned chicken and the thought of it makes me sick.  I used fresh chicken breasts and just boiled them and once they were cool I shredded them with my hands.  Another common ingredient I saw was ranch dressing; another thing I am not a fan off along with mayo.  I always enjoy blue cheese with Buffalo wings so I decided to add that to the dip instead.  I had some scallions left over from another dip I made for the party so I added that to the dip to.

I mixed all the ingredients together and then cooked it in the oven for about 30 minutes.  Right before the party started I transferred the mixture to the mini-Crock Pot I have which kept it warm all night. If you don’t have a small Crock Pot, leave the dip in the baking dish.

Ingredients

Pre-heat the oven to 350°

• 2-3 boneless and skinless chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
• 1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup of Franks Hot Sauce
• 1/2 blue cheese dressing
• 1 package of shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup scallions, chopped (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix until well blended.

Pour mixture into a small baking dish. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the edges begin to bubble and the top becomes browned.

I am not a fan of mayonnaise but I love artichoke dip and most recipes call for mayo as an ingredient  including a recipe posted on this blog.  I wanted to make artichoke dip for this year’s holiday party and I looked around the web for a recipe that doesn’t use mayo.  I found one on the Tribe brand hummus website.  The recipe replaces mayonnaise with hummus. I used two cans of artichoke hearts instead of one to have more artichoke in the dip.  I decided to go with this recipe and it was a hit at the party.  It was gone so fast that I decided to make it again this past weekend for my friend’s 30th birthday party.

Ingredients

Pre-heat oven to 350°

• 8 ounces of Tribe Classic Hummus
• 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
• 2 14-ounce cans of artichoke hearts
• 1-2 scallions, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

In a medium-sized bowl, stir the hummus and cream cheese together until well combined.

The hummus/cream cheese mixture should look really smooth.

Stir in the artichoke hearts, scallions, and parmesan cheese until combined.

Add the garlic, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and stir until combined.

Pour into a small casserole baking dish. Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes until bubbly and browned.

Sweet potatoes are very rich in vitamins and antioxidants and they can served in many different ways.  I decided to make a soup out of them; but I thought it would be boring with just sweet potatoes so I decided to spice it up by adding chipotle peppers to the soup to give it a Southwestern/Mexican taste.  This would be a great soup to make if you have left-over sweet potatoes from a holiday gathering. The chipotle transforms your palate into something far from the typical holiday meal.  Be careful though with the chipotle chilis;  I had to make this soup twice because I added too much chilis to the soup and it was way too spicy to eat.  I tried to save it; I added some water and even a little bit of agave nectar but I ended up throwing it out and starting over.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs sweet potatoes (about 2-3 large potatoes)
• 2-3 cups carrots, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 qt chicken stock (use vegetable stock to make this vegetarian)
• 2 chipotles in adobo
• 1 tsp ginger (fresh or powder)
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
  

  In stock pot, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and carrots and cook for about 10 minutes.

  

  Add the chipotles and spices and continue to cook until the peppers start to fall apart.

  

  Once peppers break apart, add all the spices.

  

  Add chicken stock and sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil and turn heat down to low and let simmer until sweet potatoes are soft; about 30-40 minutes.

  

  With an emulsion blender (hand blender) blend the soup until all the ingredients are well blended and smooth. Serve immediately.

I have been meaning to post this recipe for about a month now but I have been distracted with other things going on. I received this recipe via text from my friend Kasey.  Our text conversation started because she was asking me how I was doing and she told me what she made for dinner.  I responded that sounded delicious and then she suggested that we swap recipes. She then sent me a recent recipe she had made with pasta and pesto.  It sounded really easy to make and more importantly it is very healthy with good carbs and protein.  I was in the middle of my month-long boot camp class and decided this meal will be perfect to gain strength and replenish muscle.  It calls for pine nuts, but I forgot to put them on my grocery order.  Also to save time, I bought the chicken already cut up for stir fry.

Ingredients

• 1 box/package farfalle pasta (bow tie)
• 1 small jar basil pesto
• 2 lbs chicken breast, chopped into cubed pieces
• 2-3 handfuls sun-dried tomatoes
• 3/4 cup pine nuts (optional)
• 1 lb fresh spinach, uncooked
• 2-3 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
  

  In a large skillet, heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat. Salt and pepper the chicken and cook until golden brown.

  

  To save time and water, put the sun-dried tomatoes in the boiling pasta water to soften them up.

After pasta is cooked, mix in the same pan as chicken with pesto, sun-dried tomatoes and if you toasted them, pine nuts.

Toss in uncooked spinach. The heat from the pasta and chicken will cook the spinach.