Hey, remember me?

I do remember you!

I do apologize for not keeping a steady flow of new recipes and ideas coming your way. I do promise to be a little bit better about it.

There are many days that we sit down and enjoy a fantastic meal. Some days it's something new and exciting and some days it's just a repeat of a family favorite. When it's something new and it's really good, someone will say, "why don't you write about that?" The answer is really so very simple.  I didn't document a single moment in preparing the meal, nor did I take a picture of anything before the plates were completely swiped clean! So there, you have the reason why I haven't been posting. Like the Rod Stewart song says, "Every picture tells a story don't it"? I may not be able to clearly express myself through my words all the time but if I have a picture....well, sometimes it's all I need!

Tonight was perfect. I found myself alone in the house, getting ready to make dinner for myself. (Yes, I do cook for myself. I enjoy good food. It's more fun to dine with others but hey, if I'm going to eat alone its got to be good!)

I spent a huge amount of time on the computer today researching some places to stay in Cabo and started yearning for those tastes that come from across the border. There was a dish that I shared with my daughter Zoe on a trip a few years back, a delicious seafood soup, and decided to play with those flavors. Lucky for me, I always have an extra bag of shrimp and calamari in the freezer. My camera was ready to go and I was all set up.


I started by chopping an onion, 5 cloves of garlic, and 2 bunches of green onions (we also call them scallions) and on medium heat cooked them until they began to sweat. At this time I added one jalapeño pepper which I had finely diced.
My friend Bobby is so good to me. He sent me this fabulous seasoning from Mexico and I added 2 tablespoons of the seasoning to the garlic and onions and then added just enough tequila to make the mixture move a little.
I let the tequila cook off a little, and if you would like you may also add some wine at this time. Give the wine enough time for the alcohol to burn off before adding the squid or shrimp. I added about 2 pounds of squid, which were cleaned and the tubes were cut into rings. Italian plum tomatoes were then hand crushed, about 2 pounds, and mixed in. Protect yourself! It's a messy job hand squishing tomatoes. Without an apron my shirt gets zapped with tomato juice!
Next add the 2 pounds of shrimp, I like to use the size 12-16 to a pound , they are nice and plump and can be cut into a bite size and still have a clean fresh taste. I clean the shrimp, devein them and remove the tails. They are big enough to cut into 3 pieces each.
Add a handful of fresh chopped cilantro, fresh sage, and season with salt and pepper to taste. and Cook for another 5 minutes - 10 minutes. You do not want to over cook the shrimp or the calamari.
Ladle the soup into a nice big bowl,  give it a squeeze of some fresh lime juice,  garnish with a few slices of avocado and chopped cilantro, serve with a Tostadas, and enjoy!
Buon appetito
xoxoxo
Lorraine ❤

Almost Monday

Has it already been a week?
Time really does go by quickly when having fun!

I'm leaving on a Mexican adventure. I plan on coming back with plenty of photos of the delicious cuisine offered in Baja Mexico!

In the meantime, I have entered a pizza that my family and I love to make  (and eat) into a contest. It's the Cavit's 8 annual pizza contest offered on facebook. So...if you have access to facebook, I sure would love it if you would be kind enough to vote for me.  Please tell some of your friends too! I really appreciate the votes!

The recipe for this yummy pizza is posted on the contest page! Enjoy!

Here's the link! Thanks so much!
Nona's sun dried tomato and pepperoni pizza

Have a great week!

Buon Appetito
xoxoxo
Lorraine

A Brand New Year

I can't believe that it has been so long since my last post.
Looking back on this past year has been full of many wonderful moments to reflect on.
There have also been some very emotional raw moments that have taken the wind out of my sails on some days.
I've let my sails flap a little too long without direction.
It's time for me to make a move so to speak and take charge, so, I'm back!
I may not post every day, but I would like to make a commitment to post a recipe at least once a week. Hopefully, for those of you who haven't given up on me you will look forward to seeing my posts come every Monday.

As always I love to hear from you. If you would like me to post a recipe that you have seen me post a picture of on pinterest or facebook, please let me know. I'd be more than happy to share the recipe with you!

Rosemary Lemon Chicken with Artichoke Hearts

8 Chicken Thighs on the bone with skin on

salt and pepper

rosemary 

2 lemons, juiced

2 tsp capers 

4 cloves garlic, smashed

5 cups baby spinach leaves

1 can of artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup liquid (water or chicken stock)

1/2 cup white wine * optional

In a pan that is large enough to cook all the chicken heat up enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  I cook the chicken on a medium heat level.

Season each piece of chicken with salt, pepper and rosemary leaves.

Place the chicken skin side down in the pan and let the chicken skin get nice and crispy. Let it cook. Do not try to turn it right away.  After about 10 minutes, when it is ready, the chicken will kind of release itself. The skin should be nice and crispy and you should have a beautiful golden brown color on each piece of chicken. Turn each piece of chicken over and continue to cook. Add the smashed garlic to the pan.  Add the juice from the 2 lemons, scraping the bottom of the pan to help it deglaze. Add a little bit of water at this time if needed. Add the capers, wine and artichoke hearts and continue to cook until chicken is cooked through. Depending on the size of the chicken thighs, usually about another 15 minutes.  If you need more liquid add some chicken stock or some water. 

You don't want the chicken to be covered with the liquid, you just want there to be some liquid in the pan.

When the chicken is done, (clear juices runs by the bone) spoon the chicken and it's juices over the spinach. The spinach will wilt, and you will have a delicious tasting dish. It's so easy to make and everyone will enjoy it. 

If you would like to use chicken breasts rather than thighs please adjust the cooking time accordingly.

Buon Appetito

xoxoxo

Lorraine

Pumpkin Cheese Cake

I saw a recipe in my local paper The Journal News the other day and it looked fabulous. It was for a Pumpkin Cheesecake. This time of year anything made with pumpkin gets me excited. I love the taste of pumpkin! Pumpkin and butternut are my favorite.
The recipe is adapted from a country singer Trish, that's all I remember about her. I did change a few things in the recipe, but I don't think that it would make that much of a difference. She used pecans and I used walnuts (its's what I had in the house) and I added a hint of orange zest...because I like it. Otherwise, everything else is pretty much as Trish said to make it.

20 gingersnap cookies crushed
1/2 cup pecans, chopped fine
1/2 stick unsalted butter melted

mix all together and line the bottom of a 9" spring form pan and bake in a  350 preheated oven for 8 - 10 minutes.  Let cool.

With an electric mixer,
Beat 16 ozs of cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar .
Add 1 tsp vanilla.
Add 3 eggs, adding each egg, one at a time.
Mix well.
Reserve one cup of the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

To the cheese mixture add 1 cup of pumpkin puree
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
*orange zest
taste it and see if you want to add some more cinnamon or nutmeg. I did!

Take your mixture out of the refrigerator and only using half of the reserved mixture drop spoonfuls into the bottom of your pan. Now put your pumpkin mixture on top. Now spoon the remaining cheese mixture onto of the pumpkin mixture. Using a butter knife swirl through the top and make a marble design.

Bake at 350 for 50 - 60 minutes.
Trish didn't say to bake the cheesecake in a water bath, but I went ahead and did that anyway. I can't wait to take a bite of this one!
Happy Thanksgiving!

xoxoxo
Buon Appetito
Lorraine

Tuscany Tonight

Awhile back I won a contest for a recipe I submitted called Tuscany Tonight.

I will write more about this later. It was a fabulous evening!

For now, I'd just like to post these two links until I have enough time to compose myself and write a worthwhile entry.

below is the link for the press release from the wine company that sponsored the contest

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/10/prweb9972094.htm

below is the link where you may view some pictures from the evening

https://plus.google.com/photos/101207826683968552675/albums/5797333697203837169

I'm attempting to make some of Chefs focaccia today. I'll let you know how that turns out!

xoxoxo

Lorraine

Pumpkins are not just for Pie

Usually when I think of pumpkins I usually think of a delicious pumpkin pie.
I love pumpkin pie!
But for today let's think of the pumpkin in another way other than "pie".
For instance if you carve out the inside of the pumpkin you can use it for a vase and make a lovely fall centerpiece for your table.

We hollowed out the inside of the pumpkin and then arranged some lovely fall flowers inside the pumpin that we thought would look nice on our table. It looked beautiful!

Another way you can use a pumpkin is to use it as an actual serving dish. You just need to find the right size pumpkin that you want to work with!

This recipe was so easy to make. In fact I made 3 different variations of this pumpkin dip.
Recipe 1

8 ozs cream cheese - softened at room temp
2 cups powdered sugar
Mix the powdered sugar and cream cheese together until smooth
Add 15 ozs of pumpkin puree
add 1 tsp of each spice  cinnamon, ground ginger,  and  ground nutmeg
adjust to your taste
zest of one orange and mix all together and put into pumpkin
sprinkle top with a little bit of brown sugar

Recipe 2

1 package of instant vanilla pudding
1 pint of whipping cream
With an electric mixer beat on med and then high speed for about one minute until thick
fold in 15 ozs pumpkin puree
add cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground nutmeg
add zest of one orange
chill for 20 minutes and then fill pumpkin and serve

Recipe 3

1 package of instant vanilla pudding
1 large container of Greek Yogurt (I used Fagee)
Beat with electric mixer until thick
add pumpkin puree and spices and orange zest as above
chill for 20 minutes before serving

Serve this with some gingersnap cookies, cinnamon grahams, pecan sandie, and some sliced apples.

Buon Appetito
xoxoxo
Lorraine

When in Rome...

...Make pasta!

I am back from a fabulous 2 week vacation with my husband. We sailed the French, Italian and Spanish Riviera's on a Holland America Cruise Ship. What a great time! We met so many interesting people and have come home with lists of names and addresses of people who live all over the world with invitations and promises to visit our new friends again some as close as New Jersey and some as far away as Bali!
It's really amazing how all industries are catering to the foodie crowds. The excursions that interested me the most were the ones that were centered around food, creating food, finding food, shopping for food, and most of all eating food!
When in Rome we decided to go to the Roman Countryside and we had the opportunity to go to a Estate in Ariccia. We were told that a Count still lives on the Estate and makes wine. I didn't meet the Count, but I did meet his son!

We pulled into the Estate. It was beautiful! I'll let the pictures do the talking.

pomegranates!

We were led into a courtyard area, where a large banquet table was set up with some appetizers and some sweet white wine and homemade bread. Best of all was Nona waiting for us for the pasta demonstration. With just flour and water she was going to show us how to make a delcious homemade pasta.

We could choose to watch her or help her.  So with permission I filmed her as she rolled out the gnocci and then not being shy I jumped in on the action myself. I could tell by her big smile and thumbs up that she gave me that I did a great job!

I have another video to upload but blogger keeps telling me that there's an error! It's only 51 seconds long! geez!

After making the pasta we all went into the dining room where the red and white wine flowed freely and we were served a delicious lunch.

There was an antipasti of fresh grilled vegetables, a beautiful salad with fresh aragula followed with the pasta we made with a meat sauce and lasagna. I was so busy eating that I forgot to take pictures.
Afer lunch they gave us a tour of the inside of the building and showed us a small wine cellar.
I quickly spotted the homemade limoncello! I wish they had given us a few shots of that after lunch!

Ciao!
Buon Appetito
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Summer Short Ribs

Is there such a beast? Sounds like a contradiction to me. Usually made in the winter months, braised slowly for hours to make a hearty, belly warming meal, short ribs are always a favorite...in the winter, but in the summer? I'm not so sure.
So while gazing at a box of beautiful ripe white peaches I thought that I could somehow mix the two and come up with a dish  that would taste really good.
So I gathered up some other ingredients, sort of like a mystery box challenge, fit for an entree round on Chopped and came up with Summer Short Ribs.
Beef Short Ribs! Cooked with porcini mushrooms, white peaches, and onions and braised in a white wine and burbon sauce. For a garnish I cut a peach in half, dipped it in brown sugar and let the peach brown in some butter.
There are some nice flavors happening here!
My husband and I are off for a fabulous 2 week trip to Italy, France and Spain.
I look forward to sharing pictures with you when I get back.

Enjoy!
Buon Appetito!
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Ribolita

While not your typical Ribolita, this was absolutely delicious and will satisfy both the meat eaters and the vegetarians in your life.
I made this without any meat tonight, and did not use the typical leafy vegetables that are usually used for this delicious twice heated soup. I used what I had, and what I had came from my own garden and that made it taste even better.
I started by cutting up an onion and a few cloves of garlic.
I added them into a stock pot with enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan and cooked the onions until they were  cooked to a clear color. I added the garlic, and then I added a huge zucchini that I had cut up into chunks, skin and all. This is where my recipe changes from a traditional Ribolita. I believe that Kale, Escarole, Spinach, Chard  and or other leafy greens would have been used. I just didn't have them!
I cooked the zucchini until they started to wilt and then I added some fresh cut up tomatoes from the garden.
I added enough vegetable stock to cover my cooking vegetables and seasoned the soup with salt, pepper, a pinch or red pepper flakes, and pinches of fresh rosemary, fresh thyme,  and fresh sage.
I added a can of Cannellini beans. I know, I cheated. I usually like to cook them, I just didn't plan this one out.
I always keep the "rind" from the parmesan cheese wrapped up in my freezer. I added a nice piece to the soup. It's going to add such nice flavor!
I brought it all to a boil, added a few chunks of day old stale bread and a few handfuls of Fregula.
Fregula is beautiful little round balls of pasta. You cook it like you would cook rice. It is delicious. I once had an argument with someone who insisted that it was a legume. Boy is that a story for another  another time! I just love google! haha!

 I covered the pot and let it all simmer for another 15 - 20 minutes.

Just before serving I added a little fresh chopped parsley and some grated parmesan cheese, and drizzled a little extra virgin olive oil on each serving. Yum!

I think I heard a moan from the table. It was that good!

I'm going to make this again, and the next time I make it there is going to be some pancetta and leafy veggies simmering in the pot!

Enjoy!

Buon Appetito!
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Zucchini Bandits

If you are reading this you are probably thinking that you have seens these before. To which I can say, You are right, you have!  Zucchini Flowers or  Zucchini Blossoms, are a staple in our home the summer months. I plant extra zucchini plants just for the flowers!
My family loves these to the point of even  suggesting a zucchini flower raid when we don't have enough from our own garden.  I won't go into the details about our raids,  I'm sure you will understand why!  I seem to get caught in the act all the time!  My husband has told me that he can see the headlines now...Local woman arrested stealing zucchini flowers...and he's not bailing me out!
I have no shame!

I think I'll start knocking on doors asking for them. Perhaps my luck will be better that way! I've even gone to the local farm and asked them to sell me the flowers but they just won't give them up. They think they need all the flowers for the vegetable to grow. They don't. Some of them grow on a long stem and those are the ones to pick, early in the morning when they are wide open. It makes them easier to clean and stuff.

If you would like the recipe for these delicious stuffed zucchini flowers you can find it here.
We also love pasta made with zucchini and if you have extra stuffing left over you can use it to create a delicious tasting dish.

I submitted the recipe for the above dish in a contest being offered by Premio foods.  Check out the contest. You might want to submit one of your own recipes using their products.

Here's my recipe for the above dish.

Paccheri di Pasta Fresca con  Salsiccia e Zucca

1 pound Premio sweet sausage

1 pound Pasta, such as a Paccheri or an extra large Rigatoni

1 large green squash, cut into 1” pieces with skin on

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 medium yellow onions, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 pound fresh mozzarella

freshly grated Italian cheese, such as parmesean

1 tsp beef bullion paste

1/2 cup red wine

1/2 cup pasta water

salt and black pepper to taste

a pinch of red pepper flakes

a pinch of rosemary

>In a large skillet heat the olive oil and add the chopped onions and garlic.

>Take the sausage meat out of the casing, and break  into pieces.

>Add the sausage to the cooking onions and garlic.

>Cook on medium heat for approximately 10 - 15 minutes or until cooked      through.

>Add the beef bullion paste, red wine and mix well.

>Add the zucchini

>Cook for another 10 minutes.

>Add fresh chopped parsley

>Cook the pasta in a seperate pot with salted water.

>When pasta is cooked, remove from water and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water

>Add pasta to the sausage mixture, add the pasta water if needed to make sure all the pasta gets a hint of the sauce

>Add the fresh mozzarella and freshly grated cheese

 Serve in seperate bowls and enjoy!

Buon Appetito

xoxoxo

Lorraine