Stuffed Jalapenos

Tags

appetizers, cheese, jalapeno, pepper, recipe, snacks

i absolutely love Fridays, i mean, who doesnt?

Its not just the reward you get for getting through a work week, its CSA day! I have been getting a parcel of farm fresh produce delivered to my door since June. I absolutely love it. More times than not, i get an email from my CSA alerting me what is in the parcel each week and the order is pretty standard. But sometimes there’s a little something thrown in just because.

This particular week?

JALAPENOS!

I was also in the middle of my pantry detox so I decided to challenge myself with the task of stuffing them with what I had on hand. (basically nothing).

All i had on hand was some cream cheese, parm cheese, and some spices. I got to slicing the jalapenos and removing the seeds and knew I really really wanted to stuff them.

Since I love jalapeno poppers, I tried to mimic that without deep frying.

So, I mixed together 4 oz of cream cheese, 2 Tbsp parm cheese, and a little grandulated garlic. Then I filled the peppers with them. Sprinkled them with parm cheese for good measure and baked them at 400* for 20 minutes. I sat on the couch with a plate of stuffed jalapenos in my glory while watching Once Upon A Time… didnt share either! Apparently BR hates any kind of stuffed vegetable.

oh well, More for me!

Stuff all the vegetables!

with cheese!

 

I made Cheese!

Tags

cheese, giveaway, Yelp

The other day I was lucky enough to gain a spot in a very small, very intimate, and very free Yelp Elite event making fresh mozzarella in my local pizzeria, Williamsburg Pizzeria. Not only did I get to walk to this event, but I got to leave with a belly full of truffle pizza and a bag of fresh mozzarella.

For the longest time, I have been wanting to make cheese. It seems very daunting all together but I learned that to make cheese, one needs pasteurized milk which is illegal in New York. So, we kind of made cheese in the middle of the from scratch process. Still, I made cheese.

So, as a group of 8 piled into the small pizzeria, we were handed a bowl of mozzarella curds. With freshly washed hands, we broke apart the remaining brick of mozzarella to get the party started. The hard part was not putting curds into my mouth.

After a liberal shaking of salt, we added boiling water to the curds and began folding the curds to create one massive wad of cheese.

Next, we stretch the cheese. It was beautiful to see long ribbons of stretchy mozzarella cheese. The scent both sweet and salty- the things I love about fresh mozzarella.

After the cheese was nice and stretched, it shined beautifully and was ready to be formed.

We formed the cheese into smooth balls and dropped them into buckets of ice water to cool them quickly. After a spell in the ice bath, we took the mozzarella out of the ice bath and placed it back in the water we mixed it in.

We wrapped up our goodies and brought them home. I didn’t last too long at home with fresh mozzarella on hand. BR and I are cheese addicts and when I remembered the loaf of fresh baked bread that was given to us with our cheese, we held off dinner and cut the cheese.

Soft, Creamy, salty and sweet. All these things. What an amazing experience.

I have a whole new appreciation for fresh mozzarella and those who make it from scratch. If I can ever get my hands on some unpasteurized milk, I might have to make this happen again.

And because its Friday, I thought I would end this with a sweet giveaway! Back in the beginning of Feb, Cravebox sent me an awesome box of goodies that I used to throw a superbowl party. Cravebox appreciated the post and decided to send me TWO extra boxes for two lucky readers.

So, if you want to win a Cravebox Zatarains themed prize pack, leave a comment below. Contest ends Monday, March 4, 11:59 pm. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, March 5.

Quiche Lorraine

Tags

bacon, brunch, cheese, dinner, egg, lunch, pie crust, quiche

Eggs baked with cream bacon and cheese in a a flaky, buttery pie crust.

Quiche Lorraine. Its pure heaven for me. But I don’t make it often because its so easy to devour the entire thing! Don’t act like its just me!

However, I do feel like one can indulge in the good stuff if they keep it balance. A nice spring green salad to go along side this decadent quiche is the perfect homemade brunch; topped with a honey mustard vinaigrette!

I have made quiche in the past and sought a few of my pervious projects for inspiration. I cheated by using a premade frozen crust and went all in on the cream, eggs, bacon and cheese.

I served us each a slab of quiche alongside a mixed green salad.

It was a great balance. It was also hard to not have a second slice. Instead, I had more salad since the honey mustard dressing was SO delicious!

Stuffed Zucchini

Tags

cheese, marinara, sausage, zucchini

Bronchitis! We had bronchitis. Fever. Hacking cough. Runny Nose. Misery. Bron-fackin-chitis. I haven’t been this sick in a while and on top of it all, I got laryngitis.
Friends, that feeling that something was off, it was me not speaking! My laryngitis really had me picking and choosing my words wisely and when I really needed to say it, I whispered it was more audible than my speaking voice. My boyfriend was a true rock while I was sick. He took care of my dog, he did all my cleaning, and he brought me soup and tea all day.
I like to show my thanks with food. Some people can sing a beautiful song or write a beautiful poem, I make dinner. The only challenge I have had feeding BR is the meat thing. I have said it before. He is a guy’s guy. He wants meat. Fuck tofu and veggies. He wants rib-sticking, nap-inducing, manly meals. Suffice it to say, I have put on a little weight trying to find some middle ground. I am learning still.
While doing some shopping from my couch (thank you Fresh Direct for starting delivery to my new home!), I found a good deal on Zucchini. Oh how I miss veggies. I thought a great common ground for dinner would be a stuffed zucchini. Veggies for me and meat for him.
I drew some inspiration from the Diva of light cooking, Gina, from Skinnytaste. She made the most beautiful stuffed zucchini. I thought that because it LOOKED like pizza and TASTED like pizza that it would essentially be the same thing.
Ingredients
4 medium sized zucchini
1 lb turkey sausage, casings removed
2 T seasoned breadcrumbs
2 cups of shredded part skim mozzarella
2 cups marinara sauce
 
Directions:
1.     Preheat the oven to 350.

2.     Slice the zucchini lengthwise. Scoop out the flesh in the zucchini and set aside. I used a melon baller which was easy at first but then I had the task of chopping up the zucchini balls… not fun!

3.     Drop the zukes into boiling water for 1 minute to soften them up.

4.     Arrange the zucchini in a baking pan. I used a 9×13.

5.     In a medium skillet, sauté the sausage and break into crumbles. To that, add a handful of the zucchini that you scooped out. At this point, the zucchini started to release their liquid and to sop it up, I added some seasoned breadcrumbs. Tweak accordingly, you might need more than 2 T.

6.     To the sausage mixture, I added 1/4 cup of the marinara sauce and then filled the zucchini with sausage.

7.     Once that is combined, fill the zucchini with the sausage mixture, top with sauce and cheese. Baked uncovered for 30 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned or melted.

 
I served us each 2 halves of stuffed zucchini. While I thoroughly enjoyed mine, I observed BR eat the filling and pick at the zucchini. He didn’t complain once but he did not enjoy his dinner.
Sure, I felt bad but being in a relationship is about learning how to meet halfway. Some dishes are better than others and this one just didn’t meet his expectations. My parents, who are big zucchini lovers, gratefully took the leftover stuffed zucchini and loved it. Not a win for my boyfriend but a definite win for my family.
I will take that.
Plop extra pieces in the freezer for an emergency lunch! Or dinner.

Penne with Asparagus and Ricotta

Tags

asparagus, cheese, pasta, ricotta, sides

For my first shopping trip back in the old neighborhood, I neglected to make a plan. This was surely a mistake as I walked into the HUGE supermarket complete with a butcher, fish monger, and large variety of everything. I have been so accustomed to either shopping on Fresh Direct (which I can’t get delivered here) or running to the small supermarket for essentials.

Well, when I arrived I was so taken by the fish market that I bought a WHOLE Lotta salmon. It was affordable and $90 later all I really had was salmon.

As you can imagine, I got pretty tired of salmon. I roasted a piece of salmon every single day. And the only thing I changed up were the side dishes. Normally, sides wouldn’t be an issue but my new kitchen doesn’t have a microwave and I am still deciding on whether or not I can fit one.

Along with my shit load of salmon, I got some gorgeous asparagus. I figured the best bet would be a salad of sorts.

I took a peek at a recipe on Simply Recipes. The smart thing would have been to write the recipe down or to refer to it later. I made a mental note and made something kind of like it.

Mickey has a new view of momma cooking in the kitchen.

Penne with asparagus and ricotta  (makes 2 big servings)

2 cups dry penne

1/2 lb asparagus

1/4 cup part skim ricotta

2 Tbsp parmesan cheese

salt

1/4 cup pasta water

Method: Boil penne according to package directions for about 8-10 minutes. During the last 3 minutes, add the asparagus to the pasta and the water. Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water and set aside. Drain pasta and asparagus and place in a medium size bowl. Add ricotta, parmesan, salt if needed and to loosen it up, some pasta water 1 T at a time.

I overshot my ricotta. But then again, I have an odd obsession with ricotta cheese so I went overboard. This recipe is really flexible. I decided this had too much cheese (blasphemy) so I added a little bit of garlic.

I paired the roasted salmon with the pasta salad. Probably not the best pairing… but finding my groove to cook in this new tiny kitchen has been tough.