Jalapeno Poppers!

Poppers are my fave greasy grimy bar food... I love them so much. I don't love them when they are filled w cream cheese though... I def prefer the mix up. Meegy and I were gonna buy the pre-made frozen ones, cause like, they're tasty as hell but instead we made our own! I do NOT regret this. We ate these with Crush soda and just accepted that that was not a healthy decision :0)

10 jalapenos
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
1 tub cream cheese
Flour
Bread crumbs
Eggs
Milk

Preheat oven to broil and broil jalapenos, turning once, for about 10 minutes or until the outside is just slightly burnt. Immediately remove from cooking tray to plate and cover tightly with plastic wrap and let them cool for 10 minutes or until you can handle them. Remove the skin and cut in half and then remove the insides.

Mix the cheeses and stuff it into the jalapenos. Dip the jalapeno in a milk and egg wash, then in flour. Let sit for 10 minutes. Dip the jalapeno in egg wash then in bread crumbs. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Repeat the last step giving you another bread crumb coating and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Deep fry for about 4 minutes with oil that's at 375 degrees.

Drooooolin....

Moroccan Kebabs wih Sides

Meegy and I used a lot of help from the store on this one. It was Mike's idea to do something middle-eastern and we went to Citarella (best sea food counter I've seen thus far in the city) and just sorta worked from there. Mike isn't a huge [cooked] seafood fan, so we went with meat. Red manly meat. We ended up with a luxurious spread since we used so much help from the store.

Kebabs:
1 lb lamb cut into cutes
1 medium egg plant cut into cubes
8 crimini mushrooms
1 red onion cut into pieces
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
Pinch of cumin and cinnamon
Olive oil
Salt/pep

This should make about 6 kabobs. You basically cut the veggies and lamb into chunks and arrange on skewers. You mix the last 6 ingredients together and coat one side with the mixture and grill on high (so lamb is red on inside and you get good grill marks) for 3 minutes. Brush the other side with mixture and flip and cook for 2 minutes, take off grill and cover with foil and let sit for 10 minutes.

While the kabobs are cooling you can arrange your store bought items on a large cutting board (or on anything). I bought pitas, red pepper hummus, mixed olives, feta cheese and red wine.

I also served this with couscous as follows:
1 C couscous
1 C milk
Chopped fresh parsley
Salt/pep

You bring a hefty 1 C of milk to a boil, add couscous, kill heat and cover for 5 minutes. Remove cover and fluff with fork. Add in parsley and salt/pep. Milk and couscous are used in almost all Morocan dishes.

Potato Omelette with Whole Wheat Cheddar Cheese Straws

If you're on a budget (like I usually am), this is a great and tasty meal. I sorta don't recommend doing this without a food processor (w a slicing feature) or a mandolin. Serve this with Cholula hot sauce.

This is for one serving:
1 Yukon gold spud (sliced thin)
3 eggs
1 tsp finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp thyme
Shredded cheddar cheese
1 TBSP milk
1/2 TBSP butter
1/2 TBSP oil
salt/pep

So, slice your potatoes suuuper super thin. As I said above, I don't think this can be achieved without the aid of your food processor or your mandolin. Heat the pan to medium high for a good few minutes, reduce to medium, add butter and oil and then arrange your potatoes in the pan in a flower type way (just arrange the slices in a circle around the pan). Let this cook for about 8 minutes.

Whisk the rest of the ingredients together and pour over top. Let this cook for about another 5 minutes. Ok, this is the hard part and, not gonna lie, I was super impressed that I was able to do this! So, the idea here is that you wanna get the other side (normally I would say broiler is fine, but my Cheese Straws were in there and I wanted to learn this pro-style way anyways). Get a plate and spray w non-stick spray. Cover the pan with the plate and flip fast and with confidence. Immediately slide the omelet back into the pan and turn heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes.

Make the Whole Wheat Cheddar Cheese straws first. These are great snack foods!

1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup whole wheat flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine all ingredients except for the milk in a bowl and mix until you get big crumbs. Add the milk and kneed to form your dough. Roll out your dough into a thin sheet and cut long thin strips out and transfer to a cookie sheet. Cook for about 15 minutes.

Mexican Lasagna

Ok - this shoots to the top of my list of favorites, no doubt! One of my friends from work (Clare, a super smart attorney who's leaving to go live in the Caribbean and who I WILL be visiting :-) is going to make this and she is going to do an easier version, which I have posted below.

You will note that nothing is seasoned as it's unnecessary since the salsa is packed w flavor and it seeps into everything else.

3 large beefsteak tomatoes
5 tomatillos
1/2 large white onion
1 C packed fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno
3 garlic cloves
2 tsp cumin
1 zucchini, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
Corn from 2 ears
Whole chicken
3 C jack cheese
6 flour tortillas
salt/pep

Boil the whole chicken the night before in a large pot filled with water for abt 1.5 hours over medium heat. Put in fridge over night.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Pull the chicken in the pot from the fridge and put it on the stove to warm up. Remove from pot after just warmed and take all meat off carcass (I um, like to do this...) You should end up w about 4 C of shredded chicken.

Food process the first 7 ingredients (this makes your salsa). Boil the corn in the chicken water for 5 minutes then take corn off cobs (reserve chicken water for stock!). Dice the zucchini and squash and saute in pan with Pam until browned (good smoky flavor). Kill the heat on the veggies and add in corn.

Now all that's left is the layering: Add salsa to the bottom of the pan, then two tortillas, then veggies, then chicken, then cheese, then more salsa and repeat as you would a lasagna. Finish with cheese.

Cook, covered w tin foil, for 50 minutes. Remove foil and jack oven up to a broil and broil until golden. Make sure you check CONSTANTLY when you are broiling. It will golden within a matter of minutes and you do NOT wanna ruin this by over broiling. Also, the hardest part of this meal is letting it sit for at least 20 minutes. 30 minutes is perfect.

** Clare substituted one can salsa and one can salsa verde and mixed these for the salsa. She bought a rotisserie chicken and removed meat. She used store bought frozen corn instead. Doing it this way is muuuch easier and makes it a really great go to quick meal. However, if you have the time, do the home made. You will certainly not regret it.

German Potato Salad

This is a really healthy meal (ok, fine, you can leave the bacon out Jenny) and great for picnics since there is no mayo.

Make this ahead of time and keep it in the fridge overnight so everything gets incorporated.

12 red potatoes
2 scallions chopped on a bias
1/2 red bell pepper chopped into little bits
1 TBS finely chopped parsley
5 bacon slices, crisped and crumbled
1/2 red onion chopped into little bits

1/2 C red wine vinegar
2 tsp Grey Poupon
1/2 C olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt/pep

Ite - here it is: wash and cut the potatoes into thin discs (leave the skin on). Boil until just a taaad firmer than fork tender. You can go ahead and chop all your veggies while they are boiling. Drain and return to pot (just to get extra water evaporated... water and oil are like Montague and Capulet). Whisk the vinegar, mustard, olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, dried thyme and salt/pep together (you may need to add more oil depending on your taste... I personally <3 vinegar... maybe it's the British in me). Anyhoodle, add the "dressing" to the warm spuds but do NOT, I repeat, do not add the veggies. Adding the veggies to the hot potatoes will slightly cook them which will do two things: 1. tenderize and 2. discolour. You want the crisp texture and the brigthness of the color. However, it is important to add the dressing to the hot potatoes in order to aid absorption. When the spuds have cooled, add the veggies and toss and refrigerate.

I like to make a ton of this stuff cause it can really stay in your fridge throughout the week and it's great for picking. Potatoes are the best! They really are healthy despite their Atkin's rep.

French Bread Pizza

My friend from work and I wanted to hang out and drink and eat but we were super poor, so we did this. I love cooking for my friend Claire cause she's always super kind and complimentative (ummm, not a word, but you get it).

Loaf of french bread
Can of tomato sauce
Dried italian herbs (garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, parsley, basil)
Mozz cheese
Ricotta cheese
Toppings (I think we got a can of mushrooms and some pepperoni)

Cut the french bread in half and scoop out a bit of he insides. Slather the inside with sauce and sprinkle w dried herbs. Dollop some ricotta and spread. Sprinkle w mozz. The trick: use ricotta cause it is cheaper and goes further than mozz. Add any toppings you like and bake for about 15 mins. I'm tellin you man, this is way cheaper than ordering a pizza a way better. I'm sure you can figure out how to make it fancier n shtuff like that. You could transfer my Grilled Pizzas ideas to french bread pizzas in the winter. However, nothing beats a pizza stone and a wicked good dough.

Lobster Dip

This is a great way to stretch a lobster to look oober bouji.

Meat from 2 good sized lobsters
4 pieces of crisp bacon, chopped
1 TBS chopped chives
1/2 C mayo
1/2 C cream cheese
salt/pep

You can add in anything else you see fit (corn kernels ... mmmm, actually def do this). The only thing is that you gotta keep it suuuper chunky or else you look corny.

Vegetarian Chili

My dad took us all up to his ski house he got every year around either Thanksgiving or Christmas. This is THE perfect dish to serve at a ski house. We had such a variety of people in and out that we were bound to come across a vegetarian at some point. Also, you really won't miss the meat at all (we've all heard how portabellas are probably the best meat sub in the veggie family). This is a little involved for one of my recipes, but it's well worth it and it's mostly just choppin a ton of veggies, which, I personally find thoroughly therapeutic.

So, you will have a huge unattractive pot of chili (just serve it right in the pot) and to jazz it up, do little side dishes of the garnishes below. Also, this allows people to customize their bowl to their likings, which instantly means everyone will love it. I know I personally love having options.

3 TBSP olive oil
1 large onion finely chopped
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
About 5 cloves medium sized garlic
2 jalapeno peppers (take seeds out for milder chili)
1 - 2 zucchini, chopped
4 ears of corn (or 2 C frozen)
6 medium portabello mushrooms, chopped
1 large can of whole romano tomatoes
2 C canned black beans
1 C canned pinto beans
1 can tomato sauce
1 C water
2 1/2 TBSP chili powder
1 TBSP cumin
2 tsp paprika
1 TBSP garlic powder
1 TBSP onion powder
1 tsp both salt and pepper

Garnishes:
Diced avocado
Minced cilantro
Sour cream
Scallions
Red onions
Shredded cheese

Over medium heat, heat the oil in a large pot and add the onions, peppers and garlic and cook until tender for about 6 minutes. Crank the heat to medium-high and add the rest of the veggies other than tomatoes (ok, are they a bloody veggie?... or fruit? Can someone pleeeease give me an educated answer). Cook for about 7 mins. Add the dried herbs and mix. Then add the tomatoes, beans, sauce and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for at least 15 mins. I personally like to have it going for 30 mins (and not longer) to keep the veggies in tact and add depth of flavour and textures.

In laments terms: brown the veggies, add the beans and tomatoes and cook covered.

Serve right in the pot w a ladle and put the garnishes out so people can help themselves.

Greek Nachos

Pair this w a Mythos beer and you're set for the night! I always wonder if Mythos is like the Greek version of Miller Light. Here I am trying to be all authentic and shit. Authenticity fail. Whatever, I like Mythos and I've heard they drink this in Greece, so give it a whirl.

3 pitas cut into 6 triangles each
1 lb ground lamb
2 cloves garlic
2 roma tomatoes chopped
1 package feta cheese
1/4 C chopped kalamata olives
1/4 C red onion slivers
Fresh mint
Olive oil
Cumin
Hummus and Greek yogurt on the side

Preheat oven to 350.

Sprinkle pita triangles w olive oil, salt/pep and cumin and toast in oven for about 5 mins per side. Meanwhile, brown the lamb with minced garlic and salt/pepp.

Lay out the pita and cover with lamb, cheese, veggies and sprinkle mint on top. Serve w hummus and Greek yogurt on the side.

Italian Fish Pack

Cooking in parchment paper might be one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen. I like the neat little bundles, I love how the flavors stay in, I dig the healthiness (as it is essentially steamed), the presentation is amazing and the clean up is a sinch! (Are you sold yet!?? You best be yo!) Ok, so you can cook in parchment with aaaaaaanything. I guess this is my first post about it so try this out first.

4 fillets white flaky fish (tilapia, sole, code, haddock... you get it)
Juice from 1 lemon
4 lemon slices
4 handfuls of arugula
4 slices of roasted red peppers
3 TBSP black olives
2 TBSP capers
2 tsp dried parsely
2 tsp red pepper flakes
4 tsp garlic powder
Oregano (fresh is soooo great in this recipe)
Olive oil
salt/pep

This is how we do: cut a piece of parchment about a foot long. Lay a handful (1/4 of the amount you have) of arugula on parchment. Place fish on top of arugula and sprinkle with lemon, salt and pepper. Next lay a strip of roasted red pepper down and cover that with a lemon slice (presentation freakin counts here people!!). Next, chop the capers and the olives and toss with the dried parsley, red pepper flakes, garlic powder and about 1 TBSP of olive oil. Divide this into half and then divide one half of it into 4 and sprinkle one fourth of the one half (do you get it!?!?) on top of package thus far. Lay a sprig of fresh oregano and wrap up your bundle... here, I will try to explain, but you basically do it like a deli sandwich. Ok, take two opposing edges, meet them up top and fold over each other once or twice or three times till they hit the bundle. Then fold the other two pieces (the edges) into a triangle (think wrapping a pressie) and then fold those under. I use staples to secure everything.

Serve this with angle hair pasta tossed simply with olive oil, lemon and the remaining capers and olive mixture.

Leek Cheese Sauce

You can pretty much add this over anything. Do it several times and become familiar with it and use it. I am just going to use skim milk and Kraft singles as that's what most people have. I would stick to the skim milk just to keep it healthy, but def get as fancy as you want with the cheeses. Anything works.

2 C skim milk
2 leeks (whites only), cut up finely
3 TBSP butter or marge
3 TBSP flour
3 slices Kraft singles
1 tsp dried mustard (only if you have... def not necessary)
Dash of nutmeg (again, only if you have... def not necessary)

Set sauce pan to medium heat and add butter and leeks. Stir until leeks become tender (about 12-16 minutes). Add the flour (making a rouix... see Macaroni and Cheese recipe for rouix discription) and stir for another 5-8 minutes until the mixture is slightly brown. Whisk in the milk very slowly and reduce heat to low. Let simmer for 5 more minutes then add the cheese slices slowly until the dissolve (this should take about another 8 minutes). Add the dried spices and let simmer until the rest of your meal is cooked. Smother everything with this ish - it's like crack!

Salmon with Mustard Potatoes

Ok, so this is my most favoritest salmon marinade ever - something about salmon and mustard really gets me goin. This is a great dish to freeze: I have done 4 extra portions at a time, thrown everything in a Ziploc and frozen for a month. It's a frozen meal that is good for you and not LOADED with bloody salt like all other "healthy" frozen meals. Have you noticed the salt content of other frozen meals? Go check it out... holy hell...

Salmon filets (do 6 and freeze some)
3 lbs baby red potatoes potatoes
1 lb brussel sprouts
2/3 C very nice English mustard
1/2 C very nice honey
3 TBSP lemon + 1 whole lemon extra
salt/pep

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the honey, mustard and 3 TBSP lemon together.

Rinse and quarter the potatoes. Use the Ziploc Zip n Steam bags (greeeat for doing roast potatoes... do it all the time in the winter) and cook potatoes in microwave accordingly.

Wash the salmon and the brussels and cut the brussels in half. Lay the cooked potatoes, brussels and salmon on a large baking sheet and brush everything with honey mustard. Cook for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove fish and set the oven to broil and then broil potatoes and brussels until golden brown. Serve this with Leek Cheese Sauce.

Freeze the rest by simply throwing everything (salmon, potatoes, brussels and sauce) in either a Ziploc with the air sucked out or a Tupperware container.

Rhubarb Chutney

I made this for my mom cause she's British and they love rhubarb over there. We paired this w a Honey Baked Ham (holy moly - so damn good). However, you can serve this with simple pan seared pork chops too. Or chicken.

3/4 C sugar
1/3 C apple cider vinegar
1 TBSP minced ginger
1 TBSP minced garlic
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 cloves (remove at end)
pinch of red pepper flakes
4 C finely chopped rhubarb
3/4 C red onion
1/3 C dried fruit (I like currants or apricots)

Put everything other than the rhubarb, onions and fruit in a heavy sauce pan and cook over low heat until sugar dissolves. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until rhubarb is soft. I find this only gets better w time, so make it a day ahead.

Pork and Chive Dumplings

These are super fun to make! I buy the pre-made wontons and leave out the dried shrimp. The dipping sauce is the best part. Try this when you have a good hour.

Frying them is a little tricky, but you'll get it. Add some oil to a NON-STICK (so crucial) pan and add the dumplings, cover half way w water (yes, this will steam and go nuts) and then cover until water is gonzo!

Baked Clams with Linguini

This was my first attempt at clams and, might I add, they fucking rocked! I did this like I do most of my recipes: I searched Epicurious, Wikipedia and Food Network for some basic ideas and then I just went for it in my own kitchen. This is what I came up with and I cannot wait to try more versions. Also, I asked the friendly people at Pescatore in Grand Central Market to shuck the clams for me but I know some people can do this on their own... I will get there.

20 clams, on the half shell
1 C plain bread crumbs
1/4 C Parmesan cheese
2 pieces pancetta
2 TBSP finely chopped onion
1 TBSP finely chopped bell pepper (I used red)
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp lemon zest
2 TBSP butter
olive oil

1/2 lb linguini
1/4 C olive oil
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried parsley
pinch dried basil
Parmesan cheese

Boil salted water for the pasta.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the pancetta over medium heat until just browning and remove from pan. Empty the pancetta juices from the pan, turn pan to medium-low and add 2 TBSP butter, onions and bell peppers. Cook until tender (about 7 minutes) and then add the garlic. As a side note, I like to add in my garlic using a microplane as it distributes the garlic nicely. Let that cook for 1-2 minutes.

In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, onion mixture, dried herbs, pancetta and lemon zest. Add enough oil until this mixture is wet but not oily.

Add pasta to water. While the pasta is cooking, add the oil, garlic and dried herbs to the frying pan and let simmer slowly. Once pasta is cooked, toss in the oil and add cheese.

Meanwhile, take a spoon and loosen (don't remove) the clams from the shell. Take the bread crumb mixture and put it on top of the clams. Pack it all down a bit. They should be heaping.

Cook clams for 5 minutes at 350 degrees then broil for 2 minutes to brown. Arrange the clams around a portion of linguine and freakin enjoooooy!!!!

Scallion Pancakes with Curry

So, Mike and I had major munchies last night and we officially have NOTHING in our kitchen (note to self: stop at WF on way home from Lee's wedding).

1 C flour
1 Egg
3/4 C water
1/2 C chopped scallions
1 TBS curry powder
2 tsp chili powder
Oil

You mix all of the ingredients together and then pan fry in a bit of oil. You treat this as you would a breakfast pancake (just don't serve w syrup!!... omg, I'm so lame).

I did a sauce with them too:

1 TBSP soy sauce
1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/4 tsp sugar
Red pepper flakes to taste

This was very satisfying and cured the munchies without a doubt.

Chicken Corquettes

This is probably the recipe from my childhood I remember best. My dad used to make these and he would put a green olive in the middle of all but one of the croquettes. I forget if you won or lost if you didn't get the olive (I frankly think it changed) and I also don't remember what you won if you did, but I remember loooving these! I asked my dad for the recipe and have duplicated them since.

1-2 rotisserie chickens
1 can condensed chicken soup
Egg wash (2 eggs + 1-2 TBSP milk)
Panko bread crumbs (this is my twist... I think my dad used regular plain bread crumbs)
Green olives
Veggie oil for frying

Peel all the meat from the rotisserie chickens. Food process the meat until you get a grainy/sandy kind of paste. You MUST food process - do not try and do this manually. Add enough condensed chicken soup to the chicken until you get a sticky paste. Roll into 3X2 cylindars and shove olives into all but one of the centers. Dip quickly in egg wash, roll in panko crumbs and let rest in the fridge for 10 minutes. Dip and roll again and let set for 20 minutes. Then fry in 350 oil until dark golden brown.

You can sub the chicken w potatoes if you want. You could really do anything now that I think of it. You could do potatoes and salmon or you could do egg and potato or ham and potato for a Spanish style croquette. Play around w this... I now intend to.

Basil Mayo

This is a great sandwich spread. Look at my Italian Style Sandwiches.

1 large egg yolk that's been set to room temp (leave out for about 45 mins)
1/2 tsp super great dijon mustard
3/4 olive oil
1 tsp vinegar (white, red or cidar)
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 cup packed fresh basil
salt/pep

Put all in a blender and blend that ish!!!

Italian Style Sandwich

I brought these to the beach and it gave me super great energy for crushin some waves (ok, fine, for being crushed by some waves - he he he). Gosh I love the waves.

Ciabatta bread
Basil Mayo
Prosciutto
Genoa Salami
Aged Provolone (so important)
Tons of arugula

Warm the whole ciabatta loaf in tin foil in a 400 degree oven for about 15 mins. Remove and slice into 4 pieces and cut lengthwise. Slather with the Basil Mayo and add meats and cheeses as you like. Personally, I like both slices of bread slathered w the Basil Mayo, I do equal parts cheese and prosciutto (fucking LOVE prosciutto), only one piece of salami (but salami is the cheapest) and then STUFF it like a turkey with arugula. I use so much arugula people call it my salad sandwich. I would be happy eating arugula all day!

Garlic Bread

Super easy and you really gotta serve this w any kind of pasta or soup. You can use any sorta bread (I used freaking hot dog buns yesterday son). So, slice the bread (if needed) into thick hunks... whatever you want. Slather bread with butter or marge. Then put the bread (face up) in a pre-heated oven set to broil. Broil till top turns niiice n brown. Take out of oven and rub down with a whole garlic glove (or 3). Sprinkle with salt and pep and you got yourself a delicious mop. Mop it up.

Pasta w Veggies

So, you can really do any veggies you have on hand. Some good ones are squash/zucchini, onion, carrots, peas, string beans, peppers, etc etc. For once I actually had left over fresh pasta instead of left over veggies that had to be used. Strange, huh? Ite, so, there version below is what I did yesterday. The dried spice combo really makes the perfect sauce and therefore shouldn't be tampered with like you can tamper with the veggies. And to ensure that the sauce isn't too tangy, I always add a little of the starchy pasta water.

1 15 oz can tomato sauce (I get a big ass box of these at Costco)
1/2 lbs pasta (I used fresh angle hair... this was for two ppl only)
1 zucchini
1 red onion
1/2 C peas
1 tsp hot pepper flakes
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thym
1/44 tsp rosemary
1 TBSP olive oil
Parmasan cheese
Fresh parsley

Saute the veggies and the dried spices in olive oil until nice and brown (I even like it when they get sorta black... kinda adds a fire roasted sorta flare). Then you reduce to low and cook for another 2 minutes to cool off the pan before you add tomato sauce so it doesn't splatter.

Add the tomato sauce and cook on low for however long you want. Meanwhile, dunk the pasta and cook accordingly (omg, please use fresh pasta... it's so effing amazing it's out of control). Cook it so it's like suuuper al dente (aka hard in the middle), drain all the water but abt 2 TBSP then add the pasta to the sauce mixture and stir to combine for about 3 minutes over low heat (the pasta will finish cooking here). Sprinkle liberally w cheese and parsley and serve with Garlic Bread. YUMMY!!!!!