Barefoot Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Oh boy...this one is a keeper.

Today is Barefoot Thursday (barely...I'm squeaking it in at the last possible moment-I can't even use Pacific time as a cover-I'm east coast and it's pushing 11:00 p.m.) and as with all Barefoot Thursdays, (Barefoot) food bloggers near and far prepare a delicious Ina Garten (aka: The Barefoot Contessa) recipe.

Today's recipe selection was made by Cat of Delta Whiskey. Cat, whose birthday just happens to be today (Happy Birthday!!); she selected Pasta with Sun-dried Tomatoes. This recipe was divinely easy and divinely tasty.

I prepared this recipe for the Women's shelter that I cook for so I had to do a little doubling and tripling here and there. Ina Garten's original recipe is here. I'm sharing the recipe as I adapted it for 20. (Oh and I forgot to buy the olives...so it's sans black olives...sorry!)

Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes for 20
adapted from Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa Family Style

1 1/2 pounds pasta (I used mini-penne)
kosher salt
Olive oil
3 pints grape tomatoes, quartered
2 pounds fresh mozzarella, medium diced
18 sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
for the dressing:
10 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup good olive oil
2 garlic cloves, diced
2 teaspoons capers
3 teaspoons kosher salt (I know, I know that's a lot...but it really tastes good)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 1/2 cups packed basil leaves, julienned

Directions:
Cook the pasta in two batches 3/4 lb. at a time in a large pot of boiling salted water. Boil for 12 minutes or according to the directions on the package. Drain well, toss with a bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking and allow to cool. Place the pasta in a large bowl and add the tomatoes, mozzarella, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

For the dressing, combine the sun dried tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, garlic capers, salt and pepper in a food processor until almost smooth.

Pour the dressing over the pasta, sprinkle with Parmesan and basil and toss well.

Ribeyes, Couscous and Carrots

One of the most economical ways to put a steak dinner on your table is to purchase the whole "roast" and have the butcher at your supermarket or meat market cut it into individual steaks. Typically rib eye steaks can cost anywhere from 7-9 dollars a pound and buying the roast will save you a few bucks-I have a supermarket nearby that periodically offers whole rib roasts for about $4.99/lb...nice deal!

I recently purchased a whole rib eye roast, had the butcher cut it into 1 1/2 inch steaks, and today grilled them and served them with a tasty Caramelized Shallot Couscous and quick sauteed Rosemary Carrots.

The creamy pungent flavor of blue cheese makes it a natural to pair with beef. I prepared the grilled rib eyes nice and pink and served it sliced with a creamy blue cheese sauce. No surprise here, but, the Barefoot Contessa has a recipe for a delicious blue cheese sauce that I often make for grilled steak. A word of caution here though...while this is an incredibly simple recipe-DO NOT LEAVE YOUR POT UNATTENDED!! Today I put the cream on the stove as directed and brought it to a boil forgetting about it while I was prepping the steaks until...I heard a "pst..sizzle" sound and saw a ton of steam. I ran to the stove and I watched in horror as a milk white waterfall of cream boiled over coating my glass cook top with a bubbling mess. Oh it will be a few weeks before that burns off or I can scrub it off and get it shiny again(any tips for cleaning glass cook tops would be greatly appreciated!)

Couscous makes a quick simple side and is especially great when you are making other dishes for your meal that may need a bit more of your attention. Tasty all by itself, this couscous can be a meal by itself and is great to use up any leftover steak you may have from a barbecue (just stir in the steak with the beef broth).

There are some days when you need to let your supermarket be your sous chef. A handy product I found recently in the supermarket fits that bill-premium Matchstix carrots. Being a home cook with limited knife skills, cutting carrots this small (and this uniform) would probably take the better part of an afternoon. These carrots saved time and actually had great flavor.

Grilled Ribeyes with Blue Cheese Sauce

Steaks:

4 boneless ribeye steaks

2 tablespoons salt

Blue Cheese Sauce (adapted from Ina Garten's Gorgonzola Sauce from The Barefoot Contessa Parties):

2 cups heavy cream

2 ounces blue cheese (I used a Danish blue cheese)

2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Arrange the steaks on a work surface and season both sides with the salt and let rest for 15 minutes.

Bring the heavy cream to a boil in a medium sized sauce pan over medium high heat; let boil (watching!) for about 30 minutes. Stir in the blue cheese Parmesan cheese and the pepper.

Preheat a gas grill to medium high heat. Gently rinse the salt from the steaks and pat dry. Lightly oil the grill rack and grill the steaks for 9-11 minutes for medium rare, turning halfway through cooking. Remove steaks from the grill and let rest on a cutting board for 8-10 minutes. Carve steak into 1/4 inch thick slices and season to tastse with additional salt and pepper.

Caramelized Shallot Couscous

1 tablespoon butter

2 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 cup whole wheat couscous

1 cup beef broth

salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat; stir in the shallots, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Let the shallots cook, stirring occasionally, until tender. Stir in the couscous and toast lightly. Add the beef broth, bring just to a boil then remove from the heat, cover and let sit for 5 minutes. To serve, stir to combine the shallots and season lightly to taste with the salt and pepper.

Quick Sauteed Rosemary Carrots

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

8 ounces Matchstix Carrots

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon crumbled dried rosemary

Heat the oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat; stir in the carrots, salt and rosemary and cook for 3-4 minutes just until tender-crisp.

Barefoot Bloggers Wild Card

Please if you haven't yet (and are so inclined) click on the Crisco link and vote for my Caribbean Chicken with Roasted Jalapeno Mango Sauce!! $25,000 is on the line!

This week for Barefoot Bloggers an interesting feature has been introduced. (BTW for anyone who does not know, Barefoot Bloggers are a group of food bloggers that prepare a delicious recipe created by Ina Garten-The Barefoot Contessa-on two Thursdays of each month). The new feature is a wild card of sorts or as the Barefoot blogger hosts call it backtracking...we're allowed to choose an alternate Barefoot Blogger) recipe as a substitute for one of this month's selections.

I am sooooo relieved! This weeks selection was to have been Tuna Salad (selected by Kate of Warm Olives and Cool Cocktails). There are only two thing I can absolutely not eat and they are Tuna and mayonnaise. This tuna salad does not call for mayonnaise but nevertheless I am using the wild card. I decided to select a recipe that was prepared before I joined the Barefoot Bloggers group-in fact, it was the very first recipe that the group prepared: Herbed Baked Eggs from Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris Cookbook.

The results were positively divine! What an absolutely elegant and delicious way to serve eggs. I was out of parsley so I substituted fresh sage for the parsley; I'm certain that any herb combination would be wonderful. I would love to try substituting different cheeses-I was thinking of perhaps a Cotija cheese with bits of jalapeno tossed in for a Tex-Mex version.

Herbed Baked Eggs

1/4 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

1/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

1/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon fresh parsley

1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese

6 extra large eggs

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Toasted French bread or Brioche for serving

Preheat the broiler for 5 minutes and place the oven rack 6 inches below the heat.

Combine the garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley and Parmesan cheese and set aside. Carefully crack three eggs into each of two bowls without breaking the yolks. (It's important to have all the eggs ready to go before cooking).

Place 2 individual gratin dishes on a baking sheet. Place 1 tablespoon cream and 1/2 tablespoon of butter in each dish and place under the broiler for about 3 minutes until hot and bubbly. Quickly but carefully pour 3 eggs into each gratin dish and sprinkle with the herb mixture then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Place under the broiler for 5-6 minutes until the whites of the egg are almost cooked. (Rotate the baking sheet once if they aren't cooking evenly). The eggs will continue to cook once you take them out of the oven. Allow to set for 60 seconds and serve hot with toasted bread.

Extreme Bacon Cheese Pizza

I am not so old that I cannot remember fun and fabulous times on Spring Break in college. I can actually map out my life to date in a sort of "Spring Break" timeline:

• Let's start with college...fun times in Ft. Lauderdale (yeah I know, I'm old- Ft. Lauderdale for Spring Break is so 80's)
• Post graduation years...Spring Break morphed into summer weekends in the Hampton's in a house shared with 20 of my "closest friends".
• Early married life...Spring Break was romantic weeks or weekends just for two-enjoying Robert Cray at Jazz Fest in New Orleans comes to mind.
• The kids were young years...Spring breaks were spent usually in a place with costumed characters and eating at anyplace that served chicken nuggets.
• The kids are getting older years...I've come almost full circle, we just returned from Spring Break and it was spent going on college visits for my oldest son who is a Junior this year.

I am pretty sure that I am a college marketers dream come true; I sat at every power point presentation mesmerized...drawn in...wishing I could choose college all over again. Don't get me wrong I love my alma mater (Fordham) and would probably choose it again given the choice (and would be thrilled if my son got in and chose it), but man...the presentations we saw this week...each one out did the next. I had to keep reminding my son (and myself) that they were in fact sales presentations. Oh and it didn't hurt that at one campus it was "Spring Fling" and the campus was bustling with activity-of course my 17 year old liked that school the best.

Our return from "Spring Break" has given me a real hankering for college foods so the kids and I made Extreme Bacon Cheese Pizzas which got an A+ from everyone.

Extreme Bacon Cheese Pizzas

5 slices bacon

1 prepared pizza crust divided into 4 equal pieces

1 cup prepared sauce

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Arrange the bacon in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake the bacon in the preheated oven for 10 minutes; remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain.

Stretch the dough pieces into 6x4 inch ovals and place on a baking pan lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Divide the sauce between each crust, spreading in an even layer.

Sprinkle each with the cheeses, evenly dividing. Crumble the bacon and divide between the pizzas arranging on top of the cheeses.

Raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Bake pizzas in the oven for 12 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and crusts are golden brown.

Real Meatballs and Spaghetti

Valentine's Day is just around the corner so I'm sure many of you are trying to think of the perfect romantic meal to prepare for your special someone. Look no further. Spaghetti and meatballs is the perfect dish for lovers everywhere.

Spaghetti and meatballs immediately brings to mind for me the most romantic scene from an animated feature film...you know, "The Spaghetti Scene" from Lady and the Tramp. Lady and Tramp sharing that single strand of spaghetti eating, slurping gently, just until their lips meet...ah Bella Notte.

It's Barefoot Thursday-that day twice a month when bloggers everywhere prepare a recipe created by the Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten. Today's romantic selection was the choice of Rebecca from Ezra Poundcake.

While I love spaghetti (probably too much), I have never been a fan of meatballs-I don't like my beef mixed with eggs and bread...I suppose it's a texture thing. That being said, I still made the meatballs because my family have long been meatball lovers and sadly (because I don't like meatballs) they rarely have the homemade ones so this was a true treat. The meatballs were a hit-flavorful and moist. I made them smaller so I had about 30 meatballs-not to worry I froze some of them so my family will not have to wait so long for homemade meatballs again. The sauce however was a different story. While flavorful, the sauce came out too chunky and watery...probably because I mistakenly bought whole canned tomatoes instead of crushed.

Overall you can't really go wrong with spaghetti and meatballs...I ended up stirring in a little bit of jarred sauce to thicken up the sauce and that helped. This recipe like most of Ina Garten's recipes was solid and genuine...a keeper.

Real Meatballs and Spaghetti

Recipe by Ina Garten from The Barefoot Contessa Family Style

1/2 pound ground veal

1/2 pound ground pork

1 pound ground beef

1 cup fresh white bread crumbs (4 slices, crusts removed)

1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs

2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 extra large egg, beaten

Vegetable oil

Olive oil

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon good olive oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)

1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 cup good red wine, such as Chianti

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or plum tomatoes in puree, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For serving:

1 1/2 pounds spaghetti, cooked according to package directions

Freshly grated Parmesan

Directions:

Place the ground meats, both bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg and 3/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have 14 to 16 meatballs.

Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large skillet to a depth of 1/4 inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or a fork. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels. Discard the oil but don't clean the pan.

For the sauce, heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine and cook on high heat scraping up all the brown bite in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Return he meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through.

Serve hot on cooked spaghetti and pass the grated Parmesan.

Good Things Come In Small Packages

I know you've heard the proverb: "Good things come in small packages."


Favorite Food Find Friday brings you two such packages:


1. Purdue Chicken's Perfect Portions boneless chicken breasts



2. Emeril's 1 cup sized chicken stock



I have to be honest with you, I hate handling raw chicken. I don't like how it feels in my hand. When I do handle raw chicken, I always have visions of my entire kitchen being shown under that special black light like they use on Dateline NBC or 20/20 when they do those "Germs are all around you" shows-where they show how your entire kitchen has been contaminated with germs from raw chicken. In fact that was probably part of their marketing plan...I can just see them now sitting around the conference table laughing:

"...yeah this would be great for those germaphobic housewives who get freaked out by germ exposure news magazine shows...".
Thanks, I appreciate it.

So why do I love Purdue's Perfect Portions? They are neatly packaged and nicely trimmed. They are just right when I only need 1 or 2 chicken breasts for a recipe-I don't have to cook more than I need and/or I don't have to wrap and package any slippery raw chicken I'm not using right away. You can freeze and thaw only what you need. What's not to love?


Now on to my friend Emeril...I love his stock-it has wonderful flavor He's not actually my friend, but I would like to compliment him (or his food company). I think it was complete genius to create 1-cup sized containers for his stock. It's still available in the larger containers, but when you are making a recipe that only uses a small amount of stock these containers (to steal Purdue's tag) are perfect portions.


Using my two favorite food finds for this week I've made a tasty pasta dish I think your whole family will love...mine does. Have a great weekend!


Pasta with Chicken, Sun-dried Tomatoes and Herbs


1 lemon
2 boneless chicken breast halves
1 pound pasta
2/3 cup of the water used to cook the pasta
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup coarsely chopped sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil, drained)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary (1 teaspoon dried)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil (1 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese


Cut the lemon in half and set one half aside. Place the chicken in a small bowl and squeeze the remaining lemon half over the chicken; let sit for 20 minutes.


Cook the pasta al dente according to package directions; drain, reserving 2/3 cup of the pasta water.

Melt the butter in a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken to the pan and cook for 4 minutes, turn and cook chicken an additional 4 minutes. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, rosemary, basil, salt and pepper to the pan, cover and cook an additional 3-4 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and cut into strips.


Stir 1/2 cup of the chicken broth into the pan with the sun-dried tomatoes and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add the cooked pasta to the pan along with the remaining chicken broth and the pasta water; stir to combine well. Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Carve the remaining lemon half into thin slices and stir into the pasta.

Baked Brown Rice Risotto

When Barefoot Bloggers made Butternut Squash Risotto a few weeks ago I told Aggie from Aggie's Kitchen that I had remembered seeing a baked risotto in a cookbook years ago-well I found it only it wasn't brown rice as I had remembered. Wanting to use brown rice I decided to adapt the recipe for brown rice. I had an acorn squash laying around and thought I would roast it and add it in as well.

The original recipe, Risotto alla Milanese is from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook. Regular long grain rice is called for in the recipe and the original cooking time called for 30 minutes of baking time. Changing the recipe to brown rice significantly adds to the cooking time, but I think the value of using brown rice over white rice makes the extra time worth it.

The Good Housekeeping cookbook offered this nice chart outlining the differences in types of rice: (I've edited it a bit for space)

Regular white rice: Milled to remove outer coating of bran and sometimes polished; available as long, medium or short grain. Long grain rice is best in curries, stews, salads and main dishes. Medium and short grains are preferred for puddings and rice rings. One cup uncooked regular rice yields about 3 cups cooked.

Brown Rice: Unmilled so grains retain most of their food value. Brown absorbs more liquid and takes longer to cook than white rice. Nutty in flavor. One cup uncooked brown rice yields about 4 cups cooked.

Wild Rice: Not a true rice but served as an accompaniment like rice. Cook as label directs. One cup uncooked wild rice yields about 3 cups cooked.

Baked Brown Rice Risotto with Roasted Acorn Squash (adapted from Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook)

Squash:

1 acorn squash, peeled and diced

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Risotto:

4 tablespoons butter

1 shallot minced

1 1/4 cup long grain brown rice

32 ounces chicken broth, warmed

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon saffron threads

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spread the squash in an even layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle the squash with the oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper; toss to coat.

Place the butter in a 3-quart oven safe baking dish. Melt the butter in the oven. Stir in the shallot and return to the oven for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the rice and cook for an additional 4 minutes in the oven. Stir in the broth, salt, saffron and pepper. Cover the dish and return to the oven. Bake for 1 hour. Remove the cover and continue baking until most of the broth is absorbed, about 30 minutes.

During the last 30 minutes of cooking place the squash in the oven to roast. To serve, stir the roasted squash and the Parmesan cheese into the rice. Serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings

Barefoot Thursday-Vegetable Pie or is it?

It’s Barefoot Thursday!! Barefoot Thursday is the day when barefoot bloggers across the blogosphere whip up a recipe created by Ina Garten the Barefoot Contessa. Why don’t you find out more about it by visiting the Barefoot Bloggers…maybe you would even like to join in (I’ll bet you would like it).

Thank you to Deb from Kahakai Kitchen for her wonderful selection of The Barefoot Contessa’s Vegetable Pie…what a decadent treat-vegetables in a creamy rich sauce topped with a buttery, flakey crust; what is not to love?

Well this week’s recipe became a “what can I substitute so I don’t have to run out to the Supermarket, yet again” recipe...I love the supermarket, but seriously I’ve been there every day this week. So this is what I came up with:

Butter? I only had 2 sticks and I needed some for the crust, so I cut the butter in half.

Checked the veggie crisper and guess what? All out of fennel-so I just left it out.

Onions? Replaced them with shallots.

Butternut Squash? Sorry all out, we’re using sweet potatoes.

Potatoes? I have a few white and a few purple-I diced them up and tossed them in.

Asparagus? Ahh, no. How about just adding extra carrots? (Oh and I only have the little individual bagged mini kind for lunchboxes so I just used those)

Black pepper? Used white-I'm on a white pepper kick lately

Parsley? Unavailable sorry, used dried thyme

Heavy cream? Half and half will have to do

Pernod? Yeah right, I’m lucky I have white wine in the house…I just skipped it.

Frozen small onions? I added a few more shallots and called it good.

I actually had some saffron leftover from making the Barefoot Butternut Squash Risotto, but I opted to not use it. But I did have the chicken stock (homemade...applause here would be appropriate) and I did use the flour. Oh and one more change (is this the same recipe?) I added some leftover parmesan coated chicken diced. So what I’m saying basically is that I did not make a vegetable pie, but rather a chicken pot pie loosely based on a vegetable pie. Did you follow all that?

The result? We loved it!

Vegetable Pie
Recipe by Ina Garten-from The Barefoot Contessa Parties

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)

2 cups sliced yellow onions (2 onions)

1 fennel bulb, top and core removed, thinly sliced crosswise

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups good chicken stock

1 tablespoon Pernod

Pinch saffron threads

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons heavy cream

1 1/2 cups large-diced potatoes (1/2 pound)

1 1/2 cups asparagus tips

1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced carrots (4 carrots)

1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced butternut squash

1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions (1/2 pound)

1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley

For the pastry:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and fennel and saute until translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the flour, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Slowly add the stock, Pernod, saffron, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the heavy cream and season to taste. The sauce should be highly seasoned.

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Lift out with a sieve. Add the asparagus, carrots, and squash to the pot and cook in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain well. Add the potatoes, mixed vegetables, onions, and parsley to the sauce and mix well.

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the sides, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.

The Ultimate Fall Salad

Beautiful ruby red jewels have started to appear in my supermarket's produce aisle...it's pomegranate season.

For years I passed pomegranates by without giving much of a thought to them-always intimidated by the odd looking insides revealed when sliced open. But in a moment of bravery I sliced one open and actually tasted one of the little seeds and that's all she wrote-from September to January I can't get enough of them.

Truth be told, I don't love salads. Don't get me wrong I like them and I eat them all the time mostly because I know they are good for you. But you know what? I love this salad. I mean I really love it-I could eat it every day, love it. At the risk of sounding too superlative this is the ultimate fall salad. The crispness of the apples combined with the anise flavor of the fennel is perfectly complemented by the tartness of the pomegranate. I recommend using Cortland apples because they stay white longer than most apples and they are a perfect texture for salads.

The California Pomegranate Council offers some tips for no mess removal of the seeds here.

Apple, Fennel, Walnut and Pomegranate Salad with White Pepper Parmesan Vinaigrette

1 medium sized head of fennel, very thinly sliced

1 medium Cortland apple, peeled and cut into matchsticks

2 tablespoon walnuts

Vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon finely chopped scallion (white part only)

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

1 Pom Wonderful Fresh Pomegranate

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Place the fennel, apple and walnuts in a medium sized bowl.

Combine the vinegar, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, scallion and pepper in a blender or small food processor; process until smooth.

Pour the vinaigrette over the fennel and apple and toss to coat. Divide the salad between two plates. Slice the pomegranate in half and remove arils. Garnish each salad with the pomegranate arils and season each salad with the salt.

Yield: 2 salads

Barefoot Thursday-Butternut Squash Risotto

Welcome to another installment of Barefoot Thursday! Barefoot Thursday comes twice a month and it’s a day when food bloggers everywhere (well about 100 bloggers right now) prepare a recipe created by Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa. You know you want to join in…just do it!

Today’s recipe for Butternut Squash Risotto was the delicious selection of Rachel of Rachel Likes to Cook and may I say kudos to Rachel for such a wonderful selection.


Butternut squash are in season right now and are plentiful in the supermarket. What is exciting (well I get excited about such silly things) is that some supermarkets make it easier than ever to work with butternut squash by providing pre-cut squash so busy cooks can skip the peeling and dicing and get right to the cooking. I can think of three (oh there are many more, but I’m just throwing out three) fabulous reasons why butternut squash should make it into your supermarket cart this fall:

It is a good source of fiber and vitamin C
It is an excellent source of beta-carotene
Its sweet nutty flavor just screams “The Fall”

Super tips for choosing your squash:

Look for firm squash with smooth all-over buff colored skin. Look for a “ball-shaped” bottom and a thick neck. Select the larger varieties for sweeter flavor.

The recipe calls for a teaspoon of saffron threads-which is a lot, but I think the saffron makes all the difference in flavor. Saffron can be very expensive in the supermarket so I would suggest trying to find it in a Middle Eastern Grocery Store. I found mine in a spice outlet store here in CT. where it was pretty inexpensive. Also use caution when buying your Arborio rice. In the rice aisle of the supermarket the Arborio rice was $1.00 a pound more than in the International Foods aisle! Watch those unit prices!

While I am sure that Ina’s original recipe is absolutely divine I did make a few tiny changes. I forgot to buy Pancetta so I had to sub regular bacon and with that I could not bear to add all that butter, so I left it all out. I did use the bacon drippings so I’m not a complete low fat angel…but I also cut the Parmesan cheese in half. What was the result? Fabulous. I served the risotto with sautéed scallops and green beans and here’s the good news…it made so much that there’s plenty for lunch tomorrow (and probably dinner again)!


Butternut Squash Risotto (Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa)
Original Recipe here


1 butternut squash (2 pounds)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups chicken stock
3 slices of bacon, diced
1/2 cup minced shallots (2 large)
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon saffron threads
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and cut it into 3/4-inch cubes. You should have about 6 cups. Place the squash on a sheet pan and toss it with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing once, until very tender. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock in a small covered saucepan. Leave it on low heat to simmer.
In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, sauté the bacon and shallots on medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until the shallots are translucent but not browned. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with butter. Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes. Add 2 full ladles of stock to the rice plus the saffron, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir, and simmer until the stock is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes.


Continue to add the stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes. Each time, cook until the mixture seems a little dry, then add more stock. Continue until the rice is cooked through, but still al dente, about 30 minutes total. Off the heat, add the roasted squash cubes and Parmesan. Mix well and serve.

Spinach: Love it or Hate it?

Spinach seems to be one of those foods that either you love or you hate; there never seems to be a gray area...you rarely hear someone say, "...ah, yeah...spinach, it's OK." At least not in my family. I'm in the love it column and I'm trying really hard to put my family in the love it column too. (It's working moderately well).

This weekend I made a tortellini dish that seems to meet the approval of everyone-Creamy Tortellini with Spinach and Basil. It's tops on the list for me as a weekend dish because it is so simple to make. With four baseball games this weekend, we needed quick. There are a lot of ways to adapt it to personal taste, such as adding some type of ham, bacon or chicken, maybe some garlic or a small bit of onions.

So should it be fresh or frozen? Well that's completely up to you. I've made this dish with both, but when I'm in a hurry I prefer to use frozen....stem removal takes too much time. If you are using fresh, rinse spinach, remove stems and coarsely chop.

Creamy Tortellini with Spinach and Basil

1 (20 ounce) package cheese filled tortellini

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/2 cups half and half

1 (9 ounce) package frozen spinach no sauce (thawed or cooked and squeezed dry)

1 cup packed fresh basil, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

Cook the tortellini in 2 quarts of boiling water for 3 minutes; drain. Return tortellini to the pot, stir in the butter, pepper, salt, nutmeg and 1 cup of the half and half.

Stir in the spinach, and basil; cook, stirring for 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining half and half and the Parmesan cheese; cook just until heated through. Transfer tortellini to a serving bowl and garnish with the toasted pine nuts.

Yield 6-8 servings

Express Lane Chicken Marsala

The kids have been back at school for a few weeks now and activities seem to be picking up at an exponential rate around here leaving very little time for preparing dinner. While sandwiches are a frequent solution to meals on the run in our house, sometimes I like everyone to have a nice hot dinner.

The recipe I have for today is a basic recipe for chicken Marsala that I often vary; for example tomatoes are really tasty right now, so for a garnish-even though it's not typical for Chicken Marsala, I like to add diced fresh tomatoes and some fresh basil. When tomatoes aren't as good here in New England-say in the middle of January-I will leave off the tomatoes and basil and garnish with just a bit of fresh parsley, which is a bit more traditional. I have used pre-sliced mushrooms to save some time, but feel free to slice your own. Add a bagged salad from the produce department you you are all set with a hot, quick meal.

Express Lane Chicken Marsala includes ingredients that with the exception a few staples (e.g. pasta, flour, salt, pepper) can be found by shopping the perimeter of your supermarket. So load your basket (no time for a cart today) and let's get started.

One word about the wine...don't buy the Marsala wine in the supermarket! The kind of Marsala "cooking wines" they have available in the supermarkets are really not very good and they are very high in sodium. I think it pays to invest a few extra dollars in a nice quality Marsala wine from your liquor store. If you prefer to eliminate the alcohol, just substitute some fresh lemon juice or a good quality balsamic vinegar.

Express Lane Chicken Marsala with Quick and Creamy Peppered Pasta

4 or 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (try to find the thin sliced ones unless you have time to pound them to 1/4 inch thickness)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cup pre-sliced Shiitake mushrooms

1/4 cup dry Marsala wine

1 cup chicken broth

1 large tomato, small diced

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil

Pasta:

8 ounces angel hair pasta, cooked al dente

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons hot water from cooking the pasta

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pat the chicken breasts lightly with paper towels. On a small plate or piece of waxed paper, combine the flour, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Coat both sides of the chicken with the flour mixture.

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat; add the chicken and brown on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the skillet and add the mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms for about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the Marsala wine and the chicken broth. Cook for about 3 minutes, then return the chicken to the pan, reduce the heat to medium and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and whisk in the remaining tablespoon of butter. Arrange the chicken on individual dinner plates and top with the mushrooms and sauce. Garnish each serving with diced tomatoes and fresh basil, if desired.

Toss together the pasta, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, pasta water and pepper; serve the pasta with the chicken.

Yield 4-5 servings