Happy 120th annibloggery!!

Hello Everyone!

its been a while since ive posted. Ive been having some issues with my app on my android. that is actually how i do most of my posting. so hopefully ill be able to get that straightened out and be back to posting on a more frequent basis. Im actually very excited to announce that this is my 120th post. i didnt think I'd make it this far, but just knowing that I have a few faithfull followers is enough to give me the energy to blog on. Im also excited to announce that as I post more recipes and tips, ill be organizing this blog into a manuscript and plan to eventually have it published. So exciting to have a project to work on. This blog originally started as just my own outlet for all things food related, and has turned into my own personal vision for a cookbook.
Im also excited that the Fall season is upon us wth all of its beautiful seasonal vegetables that are available this time of year, definately inspires me to eat better. Im also excited about the new farmers market they have on sundays in my neighborhood. now i dont have to travel 45 minutes to get good veggies. i was there last week and was chatting with a lady while perusing the corn. She shared with me how she likes to eat hers and it inspired me to create a "Simple sides" chapter in my blog. I put together this simple corn salad and put my own twist on it.

. So i hope your inspired to get out there and take advantage of the bounty of beautiful Fall vegetables that are in season right now. Pumphin, squash corn and cranberries. These things definatelt inspire me in the kitchen. They dont have to be complicated..just simple fresh ingredients

5 peices fresh corn
2 scallons chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
3 tbs apple cider vinegar
3 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Boil your corn like you normally would but cut your co0oking time down by about three minutes. Immediately shock the corn in an ice bath. When cool enough to handle, carve all of the corn off the cobb into a bowl. go over your cobbs a second time with your knife to make sure you get all of the juices and kernals off your cobbs. combine the remaining ingredients and adjust salt and pepper to your liking. Serve room temperature or cold. Freezes well, thats if you dont gobble it all up :)

So im off for now my faithfull foodies!!

The salad saga continues

So the end of summer is approaching and I've been a bit lazy with my food blogging. Its just been too hot to cook. I've been doing a lot of boring salads. Lettuce. Tomato. Cucumbers. Blech

But I decided to do a marinated vegetable salad last week. if I look at another lettuce leaf I'll scream. So I found this recipe and I decided it was worth giving a try. What I like about it is you are only limited by your imagination. I took about a cup of each. Zuccini, radishes, carrots, cauliflower,and cherry tomatoes. I made this simple dressing and let it marinate for a day or two. It was awesome

The marinade

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 heaping tbs dion mustard

A few cloves of minced garlic

A tbs each of salt sugar and black pepper.

I combined everything and poured it over the veggies and tossed it until everything was well coated. This is great as a side dish to go along with anything. And even better to make ahead of time. Hope you're inspired to get your veg on.

Rock on peeps

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Another tired salad? I think NOT!

Hey Everyone,

Its been a long time since I blogged. Mainly because its been so stinkin hot and humid I couldn't bring myself into the kitchen. Hence the inspiration for this recipe. I've been making a lot of salads lately to take to work. I wish I could say there was any variety to my salads but its usually the same lettuce and tomato salad with cucumbers and green peppers. Maybe if I feel

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poor mans smoked salmon?

Hey everyone...
Its been a slow summer..and too hot to be in the kitchen. But I felt the need to write this latest post that is inspired by my jewish heritage. When I think back I can remember many Sunday mornings eating bagels and lox with my family. I was watching an old episode of Martha Stewart and she had a guest come on and show how to make lox. This is a poor mans smoked salmon and so easy to do. The tricky part is slicing it against the lines so that it doesn't fall apart.

1 cup kosher or sea salt (not iodized)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbs lemon zest
Black pepper to taste

Go get yourself a beautiful peice of center cut salmon. Combine your salt and sugar in a bowl and set aside. Season your salmon with the lemon zest and pepper. Put 2 or 3 peices of tin foil on top of each other. Pour a third of the salt-sugar on the tin foil and lay your salmon on top. Pour the rest on top of the salmon and close the tinfoil to make a nice packet. Put in a dish with another dish on top and put a heavy can or weight on top of it. Refidgerate for 24 hours, then rinse of the salt and slice very thinly. And that's it! Lox! How easy is that :)

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its pepper time my friends!!

Ok..so I've never made stuffed peppers before. I've seen them in restaurants. My mother made them when we were kids...I've seen them on every jewish delicatessens menu I've ever been in...but I've always been apprehensive..do I dare say intimidated by the stuffed pepper. How I came to this here, decision to conquer the pepper was this. I've been eating salad w/canned tuna, cottage cheese w/fruit and eggwhites all week. I am freakin bored as hell. That's it...so the search began for the perfect vegetarian stuffed pepper. After looking at a few recipes I decided to follow a basic recipe, substitute where I want to and call it lunch.
So here's my recipe..hope you enjoy!!

3 cups cooked white rice
1 12oz package soyrizo
1 cup of frozen corn kernals
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes.
5 green bell peppers. Tops cut off,seeds and membranes discarded.

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a bowl with a half a cup of the crushed tomatoes and fill each pepper with a half to 3/4 a cup of the mixture depending how big the pepper is. Feel free to add a drop more sauce inside the pepper. Do not pack it to tightly though, for some reason even though the rice is cooked it still expands a little. Put the peppers in a baking dish and cover with the rest of the crushed tomatoes. Pour a little water in the bottom of the dish. Bake in a 350 oven for 1 hour or longer if needed. Depending on how soft you like your pepper. I like mine soft so they were in the oven for a while. They are a touch on the spicy side but of course I had to spinkle some pepperjack on top to guild the lilly just a bit. But if that's not your thing then skip the cheese. So I'm looking forward to this lunch..yuummy!
I hope your inspired to try these..off for now

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Heat milk, add acid...got cheese!

Hey everyone!

Can it really be that simple? I've seen people make there own ricotta cheese and I've always wanted to try it. Alton Brown used skim milk and called it cottage cheese. I guess you can switch up the type of milk you use and get a different consistancy but the process is the same no matter what milk you use. This is a great thing to do that's kind of impressive when putting out a spread of appetizers for guest. And it doesn't even feel like cooking. It feels more like a science experiment! How cool is that.
Just keep in mind that the word Ricotta in italian means twice cooked. Real ricotta is actually made from the whey leftover after making mozzerella. So even though this isn't exactly like the real deal, when it all comes down to it what matters is how it tastes.
So here's what I did:

4 cups 1% milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbs salt
3 tbs white vinegar

I put the milk, cream and salt in a medium pot on a medium heat. Make sure to watch it so it doesn't boil over. You can use a food thermometer and bring it up to 120 degrees. I didn't use one. I just watched it and brought it to high heat..almost boiling but not quite. I read that if you boil the milk your cheese will be grainy. I then added my vinegar and gave it a stir. I let it sit for about ten minutes and then drained it in a paper towel lined strainer. I didn't have any cheese cloth. I then turned it into another paper towel lined bowl and drained it some more. Keep in mind the more you drain it the drier it will be. Alton Browns method is just as easy however he stirs in cream at the end after the draining so you get a creamier texture like the store bought kind. I really liked the way this came out for a first time batch. I'm going to experiment and not drain it as much the next and see if I get a creamier consistancy. Here are the pictures of my first attempt.

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is it gravy or is it sauce?

Ok...so I've been at a road block in my blogging. I've got nothing. No fancy soups,stews, sauces or marinades. No casseroles to speak of. Life has been consisting of frozen weight watchers lasagne and eggwhite omelettes. But I did hunt down some tomatoes that I've been wanting to try. Everytime you turn around some celebrity chef is using san marzano tomatoes. They claim they are the best. Now I've been making my own sauce for years. Everyone has their own way of making sauce. Italians have their way.I'm not italian..I just know what tastes good to me. I have tried almost every brand of canned tomatos in every style. I have finally figured out a "recipe" that I like. I put recipe in quotes because there's so many different ways to make sauce you really have to come to your own way of doing it.
Now before I continue, I must address the issue of calling sauce "gravy". I used to work for a sicilian lady and she used to call sauce, gravy and any pasta other than spaghetti, macaroni. I never understood why. But I've been doing my research and "gravy" is actually sauce made with meat that can be put over pasta. Pasta is actually the dough that macaroni is made from. "Pasta" was what the fancy people called it a million years ago. But nowadays pasta is more acceptable and less high fallootin than it used to be. And also there are so many different pasta shapes to choose from.
Last week I bought two different types of tomatoes. San marzano (real ones) and cherry tomatoes in a can. I must say that the flavor of the san marzanos were very bland. It didn't have that slight bitterness that other brands have. I actually didn't think they had that much flavor. My sauce came out good, just not as tomato-y as usual. When it was simmering I decided to add in a can of the cherry tomatoes. I didn't realize that they weren't peeled. I find this a very annoying texture, especially since I always buy whole peeled tomatoes in the can. So I was surprised to say the least. Tomato skin in my mouth..blech. I guess I can't fault the makers of that product. I mean those suckers are pretty small and probably a pain in the ass to peel anyway.
So as it stands at this moment in time I am not very impressed with san marzano tomatoes. The stop-n-shop brand is my favorite. I think it tastes pretty good and if you hit it right you can get ten for ten dollars. Just remember you have to cook canned tomatoes a long time. Which is why I make sauce in the slow cooker. So here is how I make it. Hope you like it!

2 cans whole peeled tomatoes
(you're going to have to crush these by hand or use a potato masher to break them up, but leave them chunky)
2 cans of crushed tomatoes
1 tbs tomato paste
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 cubanelle pepper( chopped)
6 cloves of garlic chopped fine. More or less to suit your taste
Salt and pepper
1 tsp dried italian seasoning
1 small bunch of basil (chiffanade)
A few tbs of olive oil

Heat your olive oil and saute the onions,peppers and garlic until tender. Add in tomato paste. And cook for a few more minutes. Put all of this mixture into your slow cooker. Add all of the tomatoes and seasonings. Then add in the basil and cook on low for 6-8 hours. This is my favorite thing to do overnight right before I go o sleep. When I wake up the whole house smells so yummy.
Off for now peeps!

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