Cooking in Key West

For our 1st Anniversary we decided to take a trip down to Key West! We had an amazing time visiting museums, shopping, snorkeling and watching the sun set. We stayed at an adorable little hotel in Old Town called The Island City House, it was tucked away in a lush garden with a pool, a breakfast cart, and 3 resident cats. Our hotel room was perfect, complete with kitchen, living room, and balcony (hammock included). Of course I wasn't going to let this kitchen go to waste, so I found a small fish market right across the street and we picked out a giant fillet of Mutton Snapper! They had a lot of different fish to choose from, and even made fish sandwiches and crab cakes. With our fish ready to go we got a fresh mango salsa, and risotto mix to go with it, we were trying to minimize waste hence the pre-packaged goodies.
I was a little worried about cooking the fish at first, it really was huge, because we didn't have any large pans in the kitchen, eventually I found a broiling pan and decided that would work perfectly! We walked down to Duval St. on a slightly rainy day and picked up a small bottle of Key West Blend Olive Oil from an amazing little olive oil shop to cook the fish with. If there wasn't a weight limit on my checked bag for the flight home I probably would have bought one of each kind of olive oil, he had a lot of really interesting flavors, Lemon Pepper, Vanilla, and Avocado.
That night for our anniversary we had our delicious broiled Mutton Snapper, Fresh Mango Salsa, and sun dried tomato risotto, of course with a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate, and Fat Tuesday daiquiri's for dessert!


Broiled Mutton Snapper with Mango Salsa
1-1.5 lbs. Fresh Mutton Snapper fillet (or your favorite white flaky fish)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. fresh key lime juice
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Preheat ove to 350 F. Brush a broiling pan with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Coat fish with other Tbsp olive oil, lemon and lime juices, salt and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes or until flaky. Broil for 2-3 minutes just to get a good browned top. Serve with fresh mango salsa, or your favorite fruit salsa and your favorite risotto.

Cooking with Fresh Vegetables

The unseasonably warm weather we had this spring has given us a bounty of fresh vegetables to enjoy. I started off the fresh vegetable season with a roasted tomato soup with your favorite grilled cheese, we chose sun dried tomato bread with pesto Gouda. It was one of the cooler days so a comforting tomato soup and grilled cheese meal was perfect. Slow roasting the tomatoes brings out a delicious flavor and also gives the perfect consistency to the soup, finished off with a touch of cream makes it perfect for dunking your favorite grilled cheese into.
With all of these delicious vegetables I had to keep cooking! One of my favorite summer vegetables is eggplant, roasted, grilled, or fried it is always delicious. I sliced and breaded my eggplant and baked it instead of frying it to create a slightly healthier version of eggplant Parmesan, topped with fresh mozzarella and a sprig of fresh basil it is comforting and fresh perfect for a summer evening.

Roasted Tomato Bisque
10-12 large plum tomatoes
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 quart vegetable stock
4 cloves garlic
1 small onion
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme
1 Tbsp. fresh basil chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise and place on a well oiled baking sheet. Roast for 30 to 45 minutes or until tender and skin begins to peel back. Once cool remove skin from tomatoes.
2. In a dutch oven saute onions and garlic in olive oil until softened. Add roasted tomatoes and cook until well combined.
3. Add vegetable stock and herbs and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Puree soup with an immersion blender until smooth. Add cream and salt and pepper and stir until well combined.
4. Serve with your favorite grilled cheese sandwich.











Baked Eggplant Parmesan
1 large eggplant
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 cups breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Tomato Basil Sauce (home prepared or store bought)
8 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese (thinly sliced)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Fresh Basil sprigs (for garnish)

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Slice eggplant into about 1 in. thick slices. Bread the eggplant by following standard breading procedure of flour, egg, and then breadcrumb. Place breaded eggplant slices onto a slightly oiled baking sheet (you may need to use 2 sheets). Bake eggplant 10 minutes, flip slices over and continue cooking for another 10 minutes.
2. In a 9x13 baking spread about 1 cup of sauce on the bottom to coat. Layer eggplant on top in one layer, top with 1/3 Parmesan cheese and another layer of sauce. Continue with this layering until all eggplant is used and end with a layer of sauce. Top with fresh mozzarella cheese to cover the entire top.
3. Bake at 375F for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and browned and the sauce begins to bubble.
4. Serve with a fresh sprig of basil and your favorite wine!

An Easy Weeknight Meal

When you have a busy schedule like I do a quick and easy delicious meal is just the thing for a busy weeknight. Let's face it we all have our "go to" meals, the ones that we can throw together with just a few ingredients that we always have on hand. Those meals can get a little boring after a while though, so why not mix it up a little, with something just as quick and easy but also new and delicious!
I was trying to mix things up a little, so instead of the same old Spaghetti and tomato sauce, I decided to do capellini with shrimp in a white wine sauce! It turned out great, unfortunately there were no leftovers, so we will have to just make another batch!

 Cappellini with Shrimp
1/2 lb. peeled and deveined shrimp (you can leave the tails on if you choose)
1/4 cup olive oil (plus extra for drizzling)
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 lb. cooked cappellini (al dante)
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Heat olive oil in a large saute pan. Saute garlic about 1 minute, then add shrimp and cook until pink in color.
2. Add wine and reduce until thickened, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add parsley and cooked cappellini, season to taste.
4. Garnish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and enjoy!

A New Life For the Over Ripe Banana

We've all been there, you buy a bunch of bananas and of course at least a few of them just don't seem to make it, and really how many times can you make banana bread! Now don't get me wrong I love banana bread and have made numerous variations, I just wanted to try something new, something different. I started looking around to see what I had to be creative with and found coconut, macadamia nuts, and of course the over ripe banana; and so the Coconut Macadamia Banana Muffin was born! It's the perfect portable breakfast or snack, and the perfect way to use up those stubborn bananas if you're not in the mood for another loaf of banana bread.
As I started to gather all of my ingredients I realized that I had run out of sugar, which is a horrible thing when you bake as much as I do,  so I substituted honey in a pinch and I think that it worked just wonderfully. This is a great recipe to use substitutions for, if you want to use a different kind of nut, or perhaps add chocolate chips, or omit the coconut if you wish. Once you've found the perfect combination you have the perfect go to muffin!

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup over ripe banana (mashed)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (melted)
1/3 cup honey
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut (plus more for topping)
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts (toasted)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Whisk together in a large bowl; banana, butter, egg, vanilla, honey, and coconut until well combined.
3. In a separate small bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold in flour mixture to the banana mixture until just combined. Stir in macadamia nuts. 
4. Set 10 muffin cups with papers and fill about 3/4 full with batter. Top with a sprinkling of sweetened flaked coconut if desired.
5. Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely and enjoy!

Pineapple Pork

I was sitting in the kitchen trying to think of something to use up some leftover pineapple, I had made a pineapple tart from Fine Cooking magazine a couple days before (it was amazing by the way) and apparently  bought too much pineapple. I didn't have much to work with as we hadn't gone grocery shopping yet so I worked with what I had on hand and I have to say that I think that it came out pretty good! I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer, the leftover pineapple, and plenty of spices to work with. I came up with a great ginger spice rub and topped it with the sliced pineapple and a bit of honey and it was delicious. We even had some leftover pineapple tart and enjoyed that for dessert. It was the perfect combination for a quick, easy and delicious dinner.

Spicy Ginger Rub
2 Tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

Ginger Pineapple Pork Tenderloin
2 1lb. pork tenderloins
1 cup thinly sliced pineapple
Spicy Ginger Rub
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp canola oil

1. Preheat oven to 375. Coat pork with oil and place on a baking sheet.
2. Rub spice rub all over pork until it is completely coated.
3. Place pineapple slices on top of and surrounding pork and drizzle with honey.
4. Roast for about 30 minutes or until a thermometer reads 155.
5. Slice thinly and serve with your favorite mashed potatoes!

Soup's On, Italian Style

Well Winter has finally arrived here whether we were ready for it or not. While we still haven't seen much snow here, the cold weather has set in. Of course as soon as it gets chilly outside all I want is a big bowl of soup to warm me up. Pasta Fagioli is one of those meals that just hits the spot, it is filling and hearty and pretty simple to make for a quick weeknight meal.
One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it is very easy to substitute ingredients for whatever you have on hand. You can use basically any type of bean, and if you don't have pancetta in the house you can substitute bacon or even prosciutto. I have made this soup with many different combinations and every time it has come out delicious. Make sure you make a big batch of this soup as it gets eaten up very quickly!

Pasta Fagioli

Ingredients
4 oz. Pancetta
1 medium onion (small dice)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 15 oz. can petite dice tomatoes
2 15 oz. cans canellini beans (rinsed and drained)
4 15 oz. cans chicken stock
1 cup ditalini pasta
2 bay leaves, 1 tsp rosemary, and 1 tsp. peppercorns (tied into a sachet of cheesecloth)

Directions
1. Saute pancetta, onions and garlic in butter and olive oil about 3 minutes or until onions are softened and pancetta is browned.
2. Add beans and tomatoes and stir until combined. Add in chicken stock and sachet of herbs and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
3.Transfer about 1 cup of the bean and tomato mixture without liquid to a bowl and puree with an immersion blender until smooth.
4. While pureeing the bean and tomato mixture bring soup to a boil and add ditalini to cook for about 10 minutes or until al dante.
5. Once ditalini is al dante add the bean puree back into the soup. Stir well and serve with your favorite bread!

 

A Cozy Winter Meal

Whether we wanted it or not, winter has finally arrived. The chilly weather, ice and snow, I don't think anyone is really a fan of any of these things. The only thing to do on a snowy winter evening is to make a warm and comforting meal. I wanted to make something simple that wouldn't tie me down to the stove all evening.
Risotto is one of those things that is so versatile. You can use any type of wine and liquid that you want, put any kind of cheese, protein or vegetable and the possibilities are endless. While in culinary school a teacher recommended trying a risotto with champagne and strawberries, I personally haven't tried it but I believe I'm up to the challenge, what's not to like about champagne and strawberries!
I originally wanted to make a mushroom and gorgonzola risotto which to me sounds delicious, but someone in my household is not the biggest fan of blue cheese so I decided against it. So, I was back to square one, I knew I wanted to use mushrooms, but it needed something more...finally I decided on using crab claw meat, how could you go wrong with mushrooms and crab. I added some parmesan cheese to make it creamy and I have to say that the combination definitely hit the spot on a cold winter evening.

Mushroom and Crab Risotto
 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
1 small onion diced
1 clove garlic minced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
1 quart chicken stock
1 pinch saffron threads
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup crab claw meat

1. In a medium saucepan heat stock and saffron thread until heated through, keep warm.
2.In a large saute pan saute onions in 2 Tbsp. butter. Once softened add rice and saute until rice is opaque.
3.Add wine and stir until the liquid is absorbed. Begin adding stock in this same method, about a cup at a time stirring until absorbed before adding the next cup.
4. While rice is cooking saute mushrooms and crab in 2 Tbsp. butter until mushrooms are softened and crab is cooked through. Add this mixture to the rice about halfway through the rice cooking time.
5. When rice is completely cooked add in the parmesan cheese.

This dish is best served immediately, so enjoy right away! This will make enough for 4 generous servings so make sure to invite some friends over!

Pork Chops for Dinner

As I was enjoying my much needed day off this week I was trying to think of something fun and different to do with pork chops. They really don't get much attention, it's hard to cook them well. Making sure to not over cook them and dry them out while making sure they are cooked through is a science in itself. The easiest thing I have found is to sear them very quickly and then cook them through on a lower heat. Letting the meat rest also keeps them nice and juicy on the inside and keeps them from drying out. So I was browsing recipes and just wasn't finding anything that really hit the spot. I didn't want to do anything too involved, as it was my day off, my time to relax, but I also didn't want to just make plain old sauteed pork chops. I finally decided on a pan fried pork chop with mustard cream sauce and sauteed apples. It was a perfect blend of sweet and salty with a little bit of a bite from the whole grain mustard.

Pork Chops with Mustard Cream Sauce
2 4-5 oz. pork chops about 1 inch thick
Flour for dredging
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup dry white wine
1 Tbsp. whole grain mustard
3/4 cup heavy cream

Heat oil in saute pan over medium-high heat.
Mix salt and pepper into flour and coat pork chops with the mixture.
Saute pork chops until browned on both sides and reduce heat to medium. Continue cooking until cooked through about 2 minutes per side.
Transfer pork chops to a plate and tent with foil to rest.
Deglaze pan with white wine and cook until almost completely reduced.
Add in mustard and heavy cream and simmer until thickened.
Spoon sauce over pork chops and serve with sauteed apples.

Sauteed Apples
2 medium apples, peeled and thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. brandy

Sautee apples in butter until softened
Add in cinnamon and brandy until cooked thoroughly.

Pierogi Sunday

One of my husband's favorite meals is potato pierogi. How can you beat the combination of pasta and potatoes? They are two of my favorite things. When we got a recipe for pierogi dough from my Grandmother in-law I couldn't wait to try it out and start making our own homemade pierogi.
We had made them once a couple of months ago and they came out great, but it was a very standard recipe. We wanted to make something new and different, and finally decided on a spicy sweet potato, and a basic potato, onion and cheese. I have to say I hadn't originally planned on serving them together, but I wanted to try them both and the two really do seem to compliment each other. The sweet and spicy with the salty and creamy just goes perfect together, and with a dollop of sour cream you've got a perfect meal.
I really enjoyed cooking together with my husband, it was great to spend time together while doing something we both love. I can't wait to pass this recipe along; our first original Pierogi Recipe!

Pierogi Dough
2 Cups Flour
1 Egg
1/2 cup water (use water from boiling potatoes)

In an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook mix together the flour and eggs until it forms course crumbles. Add the water slowly until it forms into a single ball. Knead for about 2 minutes.

Spicy Sweet Potato Filling
1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. packed light brown sugar

Combine all ingredients together with a potato masher until well combined.

To Make Pierogi

• Roll out dough on a pasta roller to setting three thickness.
• Using the bottom of a dumpling press cut out circles until all of the dough is filled.
• Fill each circle with about a teaspoon of filling and brush with potato water, using the dumpling press seal and make sure there are no gaps as to prevent any leaks while boiling.
• Boil the fresh pierogi for 9 minutes and serve with a dollop of sour cream.
• Leftover pierogi can be frozen and enjoyed another day! (This will make about 20-25 pierogi)

I hope you enjoy making these as much as we did, it is a long process but worth the time and effort!

A New Year!

As we start 2012 I ask myself what am I going to do this year to better myself, become more creative, more happy, and discover who I am. Each new year brings a new beginning, a new start, so why not start this year off doing what I love most...cooking and enjoying those meals with friends and family. I love to cook and I love to spend time with my loved ones, so here you will learn all about my favorite meals and recipes as I cook and entertain, create recipes, menus and parties to celebrate life and happiness.
      I love sharing my love of cooking with others, to see the smiles on their faces when they taste that first bite of a spectacular meal, to watch them clean their plates and ask for more.
      I guess I learned this love of cooking from my family, they taught me the importance of a family dinner and traditional recipes, how one batch of cookies can bring a family together, or how a simmering pot of sauce can remind you of home. Food is the what brings us together, what keeps the tradition alive and brings a little piece of home right to your plate wherever you may be at the time.

      I started off this year at home with my husband and a very traditional meal. He had been sick for most of the week so I was very excited to get back into cooking for us. While I was brainstorming a grocery list I realized I wanted to make something with the big box of meat that my Aunt had gotten us for Christmas from Omaha Steaks. I finally decided on a very traditional favorite of ours "Steak Au Poivre" which basically translates to Steak with Pepper. It is usually a good cut of top sirloin steak crusted in a mixture of cushed peppercorns and herbs, traditionally served with a brandy cream sauce. It wasn't a very fancy meal, sitting on the couch watching a movie, but it was nice to have a night with just the two of us relaxing after a whirlwind of Christmas parties, entertaining and New Years parties.

Steak Au Poivre:
Ingredients
1Tbsp whole peppercorns
2 tsp fresh thyme
Kosher salt
Sirloin Steaks (2 lbs. total)
1 Tbsp canola oil
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup chopped shallot
1/3 cup + 1 tsp cognac
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp fresh tarragon

Crack the peppercorns in a mortar and pestle with 1 tsp. thyme and 1 tsp. salt. Coat steaks with the peppercorn mixture and press in to form a crust, let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425.
Heat a heavy duty oven proof skillet over medium-high heat. Cook steaks in canola oil for about 2-3 minutes on each side. Transfer skillet to oven and cook for about 7 minutes more until steaks reach 140. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil.
Melt butter in same pan over medium-high heat and saute shallots for 2 minutes until softened. Add 1/3 cup cognac and cook 1-2 minutes. Add cream, tarragon and 1 tsp thyme, bring to a boil and simmer 2 minutes Stir in remaining 1 tsp cognac and season with salt.
Spoon the sauce over the steaks and serve with your favorite potato and vegetable dishes.