Hurricane Food!!

I think it's safe to say that hurricane Irene was a total let-down. Since this was the first hurricane to hit NYC since 1985 (aka WHEN I WAS BORN) I had no idea what to expect. So I joined the masses at any open grocery store on Saturday to pick up a few, non-perishable staples. I walked out with apples, noodles and garbage bags...oh yea - and beer!

Luckily, I keep a fairly stocked kitchen at all times so we had plenty of dry-food options like chips, crackers, peanut butter, bread, tuna, etc. But media forecasts predicted that power could be out for days on end. Naturally, my mind went to my stomach. What could I make that will stay fresh with no power? Personally, I'd probably eat anything - including dairy products but it never came to that. We never lost power and storm did not live up to it's expectations, in my neighborhood at least.

Backing-tracking....in a frenzy on Saturday, I made 2 cups of quinoa...just in case. Sure, I was storing it in the fridge but it's a grain and grains keep for a long time, right? On the bright side, having this on-hand sure did make my post-Irene dinner quick on Sunday night. I was far too lazy from put any effort into cooking, nor did I have anything extravagant in my fridge.

What's a girl to do? Get creative!! That's just what I did with this recipe. I had ground turkey, frozen pasta sauce and quinoa...so I threw 'em together. It was amazing!! Quinoa can be pretty bland, especially pared with ground turkey. Thankfully, I had save some of my homemade pasta sauce, from the first go around (when I added way too many onions and hand-crushed full tomatoes for the sauce.) Throwing this sauce into the pan created a perfect balance of juice to hold the meat and grain together, but it also added so much flavor to the dish. The onions, garlic and basil married so well with this protein heavy dish.


If you're ever in a jam for dinner - keep this recipe on the back-burner (pun intended.) In just 20 minutes you will have a flavorful, full balanced meal, that is sure to please.

Recipe:
1.5 lbs ground turkey
1 cup prepared quinoa
1.5 - 2 cups pasta sauce, of your choice.

Directions:
Cook meat until it is browned all the way through. Once meat is cook, toss in quinoa and mix with meat until heated through. Lastly, add sauce and mix to coat. Season with salt, pepper and other spices as desired.

It really is that easy! Enjoy. :)

Turkey Mushroom Risotto

I've spent a lot of time over the last few years watching Food Network absorbing tips about amazing food, cooking techniques and great dishes to try. I've heard to much about risotto (the good and the bad) and am embarrassed to say that prior to cooking this recipe I never had it.

My mother was in town visiting and I promised to cook her something great since she checks out my blog all the time and complains about how she never gets to try anything I make. :) I figured this would be the perfect time to give risotto a try. Obviously, it could have gone horribly wrong since I had heard risotto is a tough dish to make properly, but it was amazing! (And i don't really understand how someone could mess it up.) 

After spending a little quality time in the kitchen, my mom and I each dug into a delicious bowl of Turkey Mushroom Risotto. You definitely have to try this one!

Recipe: 

1 lb of ground turkey
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced 

1 8oz package of mushrooms, chopped
2 tbsp of fresh tarragon (I couldn't find tarragon so I substituted with green onion instead)
6 cups of chicken broth
1 cup of white wine

21/4 cups arborrio rice
2 tbsp of butter
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese

Directions: 

1) Cook turkey on medium high heat, in a deep skillet. When the turkey is about 3/4 cooked, add in diced onion and garlic.

2) Continue to cook the mixture for 1 to 2 more minutes then add mushrooms.Cook for and additional minute or two and then add in your fresh tarragon (or green onion, in my case.)
3) Let the meat cook for a final minute or two and remove the meat from the heat and set it aside.
4) In the same pan, add broth and wine. Bring the liquid to a boil then add rice and stir continuously for the first 2 to 3 minutes.
5) When the water's 3/4 of the way absorbed (about 20 minutes) add the turkey mixture back in and continue to cook and stir until the water is absorbed and the pasta/grain mix is creamy.
6) Remove from heat and stir in butter and cheese.
7) ENJOY! :)

Recipe courtesy of: Mommycooks.com

French Toast Cupcakes - UPDATE

I woke up yesterday morning with a craving for a delicious cupcake. It's been a few weeks since I've baked so it was definitely time to get back into the swing of things. I've made a lot of chocolate, red velvet and stuffed cakes and wanted to bake outside my realm.

After some searching, I found a great recipe on The Cupcakery Blog for French Toast Cupcake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting. I knew this was it!! Simple yet tasty.

Cupcake Recipe: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp maple extract
1/2 cup milk

Directions:
1) Preheat your oven to 350° degrees. Line muffin tin with baking liners.
2) Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a mixing bowl.
3) In a large bowl, whisk together butter, sugar, and eggs until combined. Then add maple extract.
4) Alternate between whisking in flour mixture and milk into your liquid mixture. Make three additions of flour and two of milk. Beat until smooth.
5)Divide batter into prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and tops spring back when lightly touched.
6) Cool cupcakes for 10 minutes, remove from pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting Recipe: 8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
Pinch of salt
1 tsp maple syrup
4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
cinnamon, as desired

Directions:
1) Beat together cream cheese, butter and salt until creamy. Add maple syrup. Sprinkle in desired amount of cinnamon.
2) With mixer on low, add sugar 1/2 cup at a time until light and fluffy.
3) Increase mixer speed between additions.
4) Decorate and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The-cupcakery-blog.blogspot.com

Orechiette with Sausage, Beans, and Mascarpone

I spent my entire day Sunday watching Food Network. I was hooked! From time to time I catch a recipe that I would want to cook, but then as soon as the show is over I forget what it was.

Luckily, I got my pen and paper out today. Giada put together a great Orechiette with Sausage, Beans, and Mascarpone dish. I've never cooked with cannellini beans but love the taste so I was pumped to try this out. While meal is visually one-dimensional with poor photo quality, it tasted delicious! I loved the creaminess of the mascarpone with the sausage and beans. It created a perfect balance.


Recipe:
1 lb orechiette pasta
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb turkey sausage, casing removed
1 small onion, chopped
1 15 oz can of cannellini beans, drained and rinced
2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano leaves
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
2) In a large, heavy skillet warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add sausage and onions. Using a wooden spoon break up the sausage into bite-sized pieces as it browns.
3) Continue cooking until the sausage is golden and the onions are tender. Add the beans and oregano cook for 2 more minutes. Add the cup of pasta cooking liquid and stir, scrapping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the mascarpone cheese and stir until it dissolved into a light sauce. Add the salt, pepper, and hot pasta. Stir until coated and serve.

My First Pass at Homemade Marinara

Up until now, my version of marinara was Ragu, doctored up with some spices. I finally realized that after almost two years of blogging that I should probably learn an easy, but delicious go-to recipe. I've done a Rachel Ray veggie-packed sauce in the past, but it's a little too labor intensive for a quick week night meal.

After a little research, I learned that there are hundreds of marinara recipes so I consulted a friend who has received rave reviews for her sauce. I took some liberties and make some tweaks to make this recipe my own. Then end result: AMAZING!!!

I served this sauce over Trader Joe's Basil and Garlic Linguine, along side spinach stuffed chicken with side salad (dressing recipe below.)


Recipe:
2 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (evoo)
1/2 white onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp of sugar
4 to 6 fresh basil leaves, torn
1 sprig of rosemary, finely chopped
1 tbsp of truffle oil (optional)

Directions:
1) Heat large sauce pan and add evoo. Once heated, saute onion, until translucent. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about one minute.
2) Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat and let simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.
3) Serve over your favorite pasta and enjoy!


A new pizza restaurant that opened in my neighborhood recently, had the BEST lemon-oil salad dressing so I did my best to replicate. I combined 1/2 cup evoo with the juice of 1/2 lemon, a little bit of pepper and a sprinkle of parsley then topped it with some fresh parm. I loved it!

Halibut with Tomatoes and Fennel

Next up in the this month's Grocery Bag series is Halibut with Tomatoes and Fennel! My boyfriend and I loved Food Networks recipe for Talapia with Tomatoes, Olives and Potato Hash so we figured we'd definitely like this... and we were right!

This was a super easy dish to make and only took 25 minutes. It even offers great substitute options. If you'd rather cook bass or salmon, substitute onions for the fennel.


We went with the original halibut recipe and were very pleased. The acidity in the tomatoes mixed very well with the freshness of the fish and the flavor from the fennel. This was my first experience cooking fennel and I was a little apprehensive since I know how powerful the flavor can be. Once paired with the couscous, you have a perfect bite of flavorful simplicity - no flavor over powering more than another!

Recipe:
1 cup couscous
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced lengthwise, plus fronds for serving
1 clove garlic, minced
4 large tomatoes, diced large
1 1/2 lbs halibut, skin removed, cut into at small fillets
salt and pepper

Directions:
1) Cook couscous according to packaged instructions.
2) In a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid, heat oil over medium. Add fennel and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, 4 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until they begin to soften and release their juices, about 3 to 4 minutes. Nestle halibut in tomato mixture and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until fillets are opaque throughout, 8 minutes.
3) Fluff couscous with a fork. To serve, divide remaining couscous and halibut and tomato mixture among four shallow bowls and sprinkle with fennel fronds, if desired.

Pasta Shells with No-Cook Tomato Sauce

Tonight, dinner had to be quick. I was exhausted after a long day but I set out to complete my last recipes from the Everyday Food Grocery Bag series (well the 3 out of 5 I decided to make, anyway.) Luckily, I saved the easiest for last - Pasta Shells with no-cook Tomato Sauce.

I have to be honest, this recipe will not make my list of repeat recipes, but the notion of making a pasta without actually cooking a sauce will inspire me in future meals. (The acid in this dish did not sit well with me, but I did love topping my pasta with ricotta, which is not something I've ever done.

While I probably did not set this recipe up to be very promising, I would still suggest trying it. After 20-ish minutes in the kitchen, you'll have a full meal...and you may love it. To each their own, right?


Recipe:
2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes (4 cups), any color
2 small red, yellow or orange bell peppers, medium diced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp red-wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper
3/4 lbs medium pasta shells
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn if large
1/2 cup ricotta, for serving

Directions:
1) In a large bowl, toss together tomatoes, peppers, oil, vinegar and garlic; season with salt ad pepper. Let sit at room temp, 20 minutes.
2) Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and add pasta to sauce, tossing to combine. Add basil and toss. Divide pasta among four bowls and top each with ricotta.