Ziti al Forno

This is one of those dishes that I've played around with for years, and I finally feel like I've reached a point where I'm completely happy with it. That being said, one of the great things about this pasta dish (actually, many pasta dishes in general) is that you can alter it to your liking. You can add different cheeses, less sauce, basil, oregano, what have you. When Will and I first moved in together, I very slowly started experimenting with cooking. (I stress "slowly"). I definitely had some mishaps, the most notable being the time I attempted to make tequila lime chicken. Not only did I use a bottle of expensive tequila that was better suited to drinking, but I completely undercooked the chicken. I'll never forget the look on Will's face when he took a bite, realized the chicken was about to jump out of his mouth and run away, and ever so casually spit the offending piece into his napkin. *sigh* Anyway, I'm getting off track.

I made this recipe by pure chance, after sifting through numerous ziti recipes on cooking websites for a few weeks. I decided to use my Sunday Gravy (insert your shocked face!), and a few of my favorite cheeses. It took a few tries, but I have to say this is one of my favorite Sunday dinner dishes now. Enjoy, and don't forget the red wine!

Ingredients:

5-6 cups Sunday Gravy
1 lb ziti
1 1/2 lbs fresh ricotta
1 lb buffalo mozzarella
1 cup shredded Parmigiano Reggiano
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup Asiago (this cheese has a stronger flavor, and not everyone is a fan. Again, add or remove any cheeses you like)
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

Directions:

1. Mix all the cheeses except the Asiago together in a large bowl. Add the basil. Set aside.

2. In a large pan, add approx. 2 cups of Sunday Gravy to the bottom. Make sure the entire bottom of the pan is covered.

3. Boil and salt water in a large stockpot. Cook the ziti according to the directions on the box, until al dente. Drain, and set aside.

4. Add half of the cooked ziti to the pan, and half of the cheese mixture on top. Cover with another 2 cups of the gravy.

5. Repeat with the remaining ziti and cheese mixture, and add another 2 cups of the gravy to the top. Sprinkle the top with the Asiago cheese.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

7. Cover the ziti with tinfoil, and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover, and cook for another 15 minutes, making sure the cheese is completely melted. Remove from the oven, and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Buddy's Chicken Piccata

I'll be honest here-I'm not really sure how I feel about Buddy Valastro, TLC's "Cake Boss." On one hand, he obviously has a very successful business, and millions of fans. My friends in New Jersey have told me (in between eye rolls) how tourists will stand in line outside Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken for hours just to buy their pastries, despite the fact that there is a very wide variety of amazing Italian bakeries in the NYC/NJ area. That being said, I think he's just a little bit....much. His overly-exaggerated Italian gestures and expressions tend to grate on me, and every time he says "that's how we do it in Hoboken, baby!" I die a little bit inside. Not to mention, my husband and I frequently refer to him as the fondant fornicator. I've heard very mixed reviews from the locals on his cakes and pastries.

However, I will give credit where credit is due. His TLC show "Kitchen Boss" is light years ahead of "Cake Boss." It's (mostly) just Buddy in the kitchen, so he tones down his over-the-top-dramatic-Italian routine, and his recipes are actually very good. His cooking style is very similar to my family's, so I'll admit I'm a little bit biased. I decided to give his chicken piccata recipe a try the other night, because a) it's easy, b) the ingredients are cheap and easy to find, and c) I've eaten chicken piccata in restaurants before, but I've never actually made it myself. Will and I really enjoyed it, and I've found myself browsing through his recipes on TLC's website for the past few days.
Source: Buddy Valastro, "Kitchen Boss"

Ingredients:

2 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt, as needed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 T olive oil
3 T butter, divided
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup rich chicken stock
2 small, thin-skinned lemons, juiced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 T capers, drained and rinsed

Directions:

1. Lightly salt both sides of chicken cutlets. Dredge cutlets in flour and cheese mixture, patting off excess. 

2. Heat a large sauté pan over med-high heat. Add oil and one tablespoon butter. When butter foams, add cutlets, in batches if necessary, to color and cook through both sides -- a couple of minutes.

3. Remove chicken to plate and keep warm.

4. Add wine, broth, and lemon juice, scraping the bottom browned bits into the sauce, reduce to sauce consistency. Remove from heat. (Sorry for the unbelievably crappy picture).

5. Add pinch of salt and parsley. Swirl in the two tablespoons butter and the capers.

6. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve immediately.

Adults Only Brownies

No, I'm not posting a recipe for hash brownies on my food blog. However, these aren't the kind of brownies you want to bring to the church bake sale or pass around at your child's birthday party. Will and I were both craving something sweet last night, and after finding this recipe and realizing I actually had all of the ingredients in my pantry (which never happens, by the way) I immediately decided to give this dessert a go. Umm, yeah. I never really considered myself a chocolate fanatic, but over the past 18 hours I've found myself looking for excuses to go back in to my kitchen to sneak an extra brownie. The Grand Marnier adds a fantastic kick, and the orange zest is the perfect addition to the incredibly rich chocolate. Don't bake on an empty stomach!
Source: All Recipes

Ingredients:

• 4 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoons brandy-based orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier®)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square baking pan. 

2. Over low heat, melt chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly. 

3. In a large bowl, beat sugars and eggs until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes with electric mixer). Add melted chocolate, 3 tablespoons of the Grand Marnier, vanilla and the orange peel, mixing until well blended. 

4. Mix in the flour, salt and chocolate chips (on low speed if using an electric mixer). It should look like this:

5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Smooth the top.

6. Bake for 30-35 until sides look done and top feels firm. Inserting a toothpick 2 inches from center should come out clean; however, center will jiggle and look undercooked. 

7.  Remove from oven and brush top with the remaining 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier. 

8. Cover pan with foil or plastic and cool completely. Cut into 2 inch squares. Store covered at room temperature or they may be frozen. Defrost covered at room temperature.

Smothered Pork Chops

After a wonderful holiday season, a move from Boston to Shreveport, Louisiana and the celebration of Tony's first birthday, I finally have the time to update my blog again! Will, Tony and I spent Christmas in Alabama with my in-laws, who very graciously entertained 2 adults, a baby and a mischievous beagle. Not to mention, we were treated to some fabulous Southern home cooking! Before we left, I was given 2 beautiful cast iron skillets and a couple of recipes (since we'll be living in the South for at least 2 years, I decided I needed to learn to cook like a Southern girl!). One of the recipes I received was my father in law's recipe for smothered pork chops. This was the perfect weeknight dish; the prep was very simple, and the pork chops just simmered in the gravy for a few hours while I took care of Tony. Naturally, I served this dish with some amazing homemade cornbread (that skillet is already coming in handy). For the marinade, you can use any kind of sauce that strikes your fancy. I chose a ginger lime marinade.

Ingredients

2 large pork chops
Marinade of choice
Extra virgin olive oil
Panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup white onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup bell pepper, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 cups water or stock (I used chicken stock)

Directions

1. Marinate pork chops in sauce (I kept them in the marinade for about 7 hours, but it doesn't have to be that long).

2. Dredge the pork chops through the bread crumbs, making sure they're coated evenly.

3. In a large pan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Brown the pork chops on each side. Remove from the pan, and set aside.

4. Sauté the vegetables until they are soft and the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.

5. Add the stock to the pan, and stir to combine.

6. Add the pork chops to the mixture in the pan.

7. Cover and turn the heat down, and let the pork chops simmer for about 2 hours. They should look like this when they're done:

Sunday Morning Sticky Buns

I absolutely love reading. I will read pretty much any genre (with the exception of science fiction, which never interested me), and it's one of the reasons I chose English as one of my majors in college. A few years ago, I discovered Jodi Picoult, and I instantly fell in love with her books, her writing style, her characters; honestly, pretty much everything about her. One of my favorite JP books is Handle With Care. Without giving too much away, it's about a family who lives in New Hampshire, and a close personal friend of the mother's. The mother is a stays at home with her two daughters, but she used to be a pastry chef. Her youngest daughter has osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease), and the mother decides to file a wrongful birth lawsuit against her OBGYN, who in this case is her best friend. One of the things I loved the most about this book was the addition of pastry recipes at the beginning of select chapters. I've been wanting to try one of the recipes for a while now, but let's face it-with an 11 month old, I don't have too many opportunities to make chocolate raspberry souffle. However, this recipe for the Sunday Morning Sticky Buns seemed easy enough (it was, although it took a few hours).

Something else I really liked about this book....I honestly don't know how I feel about it. I'm not sure I've ever disliked a character so strongly (other than the obviously evil ones), but I'm torn between disgust and sympathy. Which, I'm sure, is probably what the author was aiming for. Have any of my readers read Handle With Care before? If so, what did you think of it? I would be curious to hear your opinions.
Adapted from Handle With Care

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 3 ¾ cup flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 t salt
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 1 c heated milk
• 1/3 c butter, softened
• 1 egg 

 Caramel:

• ¾ c dark brown sugar
• ½ c unsalted butter
• ¼ c light corn syrup
• ¾ c pecan halves
• 2 T butter, softened 

 Filling:

• ½ c pecans, chopped
• 2 T sugar
• 2 T brown sugar
• 1 t cinnamon 

Directions:

1. To make the dough, mix together 2 cups of the flour, 1/3 cup sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl.

2. Add the heated milk, the egg, and 1/3 cup butter, and beat at low speed for a minute, pausing frequently to scrape the bowl. Add flour if necessary, to make the dough easier to shape.

 3. On lightly floured surface, turn dough out and knead five minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. When finished, put into greased bowl and turn over once, so greased side faces up. Cover and let proof until double in size, about 1½ hours.

4.  Stirring constantly, heat 3/4 cup brown sugar and ½ cup butter to boiling.

5. Remove from heat and add corn syrup.

6. Pour the mixture into a 13x9x2 inch ungreased pan. Sprinkle with pecan halves.

7. For the filling, mix together the chopped pecans, the 2 T of sugar and 2 T of brown sugar, and the cinnamon, set aside.

8. Take your fist and punch down the dough. Then, on a lightly floured surface, flatten it into a rectangle, about 15x10 inches.

9. Spread with 2 T of butter and then dust evenly with the chopped pecan mixture.

 10. Beginning at the 10 inch side of the rectangle, roll the dough up tightly and pinch the edge to seal. Roll it, stretch it, mold it until it is even, a cylinder.

11. Cut the roll into eight quarter-inch slices, and place in pan, not quite touching. Wrap pan tightly with aluminum foil and refrigerate at least 12 hours, overnight.

12.  Heat oven to 350 degrees and bake 35 minutes, or until golden brown. Immediately invert on a platter and serve warm.

Chicken Marsala

I have no idea why, but I was always under the impression that chicken marsala would be a huge pain in the butt to make. I don't really know what kept me from making this recipe (or any chicken marsala recipe, frankly) for the first six years Will and I lived under the same roof. It wasn't until last week, when I was flipping through recipes on the Food Network website, that I decided to give Emeril's version a go. Needless to say, I was surprised at how ridiculously easy it was, not to mention incredibly delicious! It took me a long time to convince my husband to eat mushrooms, but now he really enjoys them and I get an enthusiastic response whenever I suggest a new recipe that calls for shiitake, cremini, portobello, etc. I knew this dish would be a winner, and I was told in no uncertain terms to make it again. Off to the liquor store I go to pick up another bottle of marsala wine!
Source: Food Network

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon Essence, recipe follows
• 2 (6 to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in halves and pounded thin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 cups sliced mushrooms (cremini, oyster, shiitake)
• 3/4 cup Marsala
• 1 cup chicken stock
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Chopped chives, for garnish

Directions:

1. In a shallow bowl or plate combine the flour and Essence and stir to combine thoroughly. Quickly dredge the chicken breast halves in the seasoned flour mixture, shaking to remove any excess flour.

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter and cook the chicken breasts until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

3. Add 1 tablespoon of the remaining butter to the pan and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are golden brown around the edges and have given off their liquid.

4. Add the Marsala wine and bring to a boil, scraping to remove any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

5. When the wine has reduced by half, add the chicken stock and cook for 3 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly.

6. Lower the heat to medium and return the chicken breasts to the pan and continue to cook until they are cooked through and the sauce has thickened, about 5 to 6 minutes. Swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, add salt and pepper, to taste. Garnish with chopped chives and serve immediately.

Butternut Squash Risotto

I had kind of a "duh" moment after I made this recipe; after taking the time (almost an hour) to prepare it, it occurred to me I didn't take any step-by-step pictures like I normally do with my new recipes. Well, at least I managed to shoot the finished product, right? This recipe was too delicious not to post on my blog (not to mention, how cool is it that I'm slowly but surely trying out more squash recipes?? My mom will be so proud). Despite the long prep time, this was a perfect side dish to serve alongside my chicken marsala. The flavor was incredible, and unlike many rice sides I've eaten in the past, this one didn't feel too heavy. Definitely on the "make again" list!
Source: All Recipes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cubed butternut squash
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 5 cups hot chicken stock
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place squash cubes into a steamer basket in a saucepan. Add water, cover, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Allow to steam until the squash is tender (10 to 15 minutes), then drain, and mash in a bowl with a fork.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir for 2 minutes until the onion begins to soften, then stir in the rice. Continue cooking and stirring until the rice is glossy from the butter, and the onion begins to brown on the edges, about 5 minutes more.
3. Pour in the white wine; cook, stirring constantly, until it has evaporated. Stir in the mashed squash and 1/3 of the hot chicken stock; reduce heat to medium. Cook and stir until the chicken stock has been absorbed by the rice, 5 to 7 minutes. Add half of the remaining chicken stock, and continue stirring until it has been absorbed. Finally, pour in the remaining stock, and continue stirring until the risotto is creamy. Finish by stirring in the Parmesan cheese, and seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.