A word from my kitchen…This is just the perfect little accompaniment for your afternoon tea or appetizer for cocktail hour. In my household, they are loved equally by both children and adults. The children like cheese on all of the twists and bagel spices on only half of the twists. The choice is yours, and it’s always right. The children and I have been making these together for years, because a good recipe never gets old!
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed overnight in refrigerator 1 large egg, beaten 2 Tbs everything bagel seasoning 1/4 cup grated Assiago cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out dough to smooth creases. Cut puff pastry sheet in half crosswise, (I like using a pizza cutter for ease!) on lightly floured surface. Then cut each half into 1″ wide strips. Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with bagel seasoning and cheese (The children and I made half with bagel seasoning and half with just cheese). Roll with rolling pin to set the ingredients into the pastry. Twist each strip a few times. Place on baking sheet. Bake 18 minutes; rotate baking sheet; bake 4 more minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
It rained a lot and has been really wet recently (I mean the golf course was closed often); but hey, we’re counting rainbows around here, not thunderstorms, right? Here’s another fun recipe from The Kitchen. This one hails from Sunny Anderson, who has been cooking outside during the pandemic, from her home patio and grill for months, and now back on the set of The Kitchen, but outdoors, planes flying overhead and all sorts of weather…kudos to her, and a terrible run on sentence! This one is light, bright, and full of delight. We dodged those raindrops, never got wet, and managed to drive the sunshine of a crisp salad right into your kitchen. I just love cabbage/slaw; but most people don’t think about serving it in the winter. Try this sauté and it will change your mind forever!!
For Salad: 3 Tbs olive oil 1/2 t celery seeds 1 cup shredded carrots (available shredded and bagged for you at the grocery) 1/2 head green cabbage, thinly sliced (I used a mixture of green and purple ’cause that’s what was in the fridge) Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery seeds and let cook for 1 to 2 minutes to bloom. Add carrots and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add cabbage, season with salt and pepper, and continue to cook until cabbage begins to wilt, about 5 minutes.
For Dressing:* 1/2 medium red onion, sliced paper thin 2 Tbs honey 1 Tbs sambal (an Indonesian chili paste) A good substitute is Sriracha or Harissa sauce. 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
Place onion in a medium bowl. Add the honey, sambal and vinegar. Mix together to coat and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the onion mixture to the skillet and mix in. Transfer to a serving bowl.
*I used Annie’s Asian Sesame bottled dressing. I just had it on hand, and I’m personally not wild about onions with my cabbage salads! But I did drizzle a touch of honey over the salad before tossing in the dressing.
Salad on the left above is prepared just as suggested in recipe (except of course my bottled dressing!). To the salad on the right above, I added shaved almonds and salad topper Wonton Crisps. I just love a crunch in my salads.
Go wild and make it your own; or for simplicity just do it like Sunny! Make it happen captain, right at home.
The great Rocco DiSpirito was on The Drew Barrymore Show a couple of weeks back and I was blown away! Rather than totally freak out when I researched his life as a chef, I decided to Keep Calm, Munch On, Try his Recipe, and Order a Couple of his Books. No recipe hunting for you this weekend good folks; I’m just handing it out to you. Just enough spice to make you happy but not ring the fire alarm! This is so full of ease and joy to prep, that you will be cooking it quite often. Add a simple salad or asparagus (to my version) and you have a totally balanced meal, nutritious, and calorie conscious. This food is pure art; and…we’re off!
This is what you need: 1 lb large, cleaned shrimp 2 Tbs olive oil 1 t coarsely ground black pepper 1 t coarse ground salt 2 Tbs butter Juice of a lemon 3 to 4 Tbs Pepper Jelly, to taste* 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
*I used Jammit Jams Garlic Pepper Jelly, so I omitted the 2 garlic cloves.
And this is how you do it: Blot shrimp dry with a paper towel.** Season with salt and pepper. Heat large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 Tbs olive oil to skillet. Add shrimp, seasoned side down, and sauté for 2 minutes. While this is sautéing, season the “upside” of the shrimp. Flip shrimp over with tongs and cook second side 2 minutes. Immediately remove shrimp to separate bowl. In hot skillet, add lemon juice, butter, and pepper jelly. Stir until jelly is meted and all is combined, about 2 minutes. Toss shrimp back in skillet and stir to cover with sauce. Serve over cooked rice.***
**I blot most things dry before placing in a skillet…shrimp, scallops, chicken, beef, and pork fillets. It improves the texture during cooking if the protein is dry when added to the pan. Trust me! ***Rocco’s recipe calls for sautéed broccoli rabe to be served with this shrimp, which really cuts down on the calories. Unfortunately, that’s not one of my favorites, and honestly, I really like a little starch. OOPSIE !! I think we have a winner here; and speaking of winners, Super Bowl LV is in 8 days…who’s going to win? P to the S. I have a favorite! TB for history, just saying.
Wake up Monday…I’m here to put some well being in to your day. The last couple of weeks I took some personal time to try a few recipes that I have seen on Food Network, daytime talk shows, and in magazines. I went straight by the recipes (well, for the most part)! It was fun, mindless cooking, with the recipe front and center, rather than analyzing and creating. So remember the Buddy System and pass it on; be sure to tag the source if you post it on the Insta. This first one is from Katie Lee Biegel, as seen on The Kitchen a couple of weeks ago. Kicks you happily in the back of the throat and keeps you smiling. Simply put, it’s simple but not simplistic. How’s that for using a “root” word thrice in one sentence…grammar baby! Ha!
Nonstick cooking spray, for the baking dish 1 lb tube polenta, sliced 1/2″ thick Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 5 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 2 t Italian seasoning* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving 6 cloves garlic 1 pint cherry tomatoes (a slight break from Katie’s recipe, because this is what I had on hand)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place 5 slices of polenta in an even layer on the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and 1 Tbs olive oil. Place the chicken breasts on top of the polenta slices and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top each with the Italian seasoning* and Parmesan. Arrange the garlic cloves and tomatoes around the chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with the remaining 4 Tbs olive oil. Bake until the internal temperature is 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 30 minutes. Garnish with Parmesan and olive oil to taste. Serve warm.
*If you don’t have premixed Italian Seasoning, simply combine and whisk together the following: 1 1/2 t dried oregano 1 t dried thyme 1/2 t dried basil 1/2 t dried rosemary
Katie’s cookbooks always find their way to the top of my browsing pile! And her newest book It’s Not Complicated comes out in March. Can’t Wait!
Hellodie from the great ENC…I want to introduce the older son of my dear lifelong friend Michѐle. I trust that you will learn more about him as the blog expands and he contributes more often with a more contemporary (read that as younger!) offering. This Friday heads up gives you time to study his recipes for two French Toasts, grab the ingredients, and bake it all up this weekend. Prep it for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner…Home Grown and Orchestrated like a Beautiful Symphony…That’s our Clark! And Now…
In his words: Hey I’m Clark – I’m 23 and live in Washington DC. Food has played an important role throughout my life whether eating out or cooking at home. Now that I have my own kitchen, I’ve been focused on developing new recipes and flavors as I cook to sustain and entertain.
I feel like the potential of French Toast often gets overlooked as an exciting dish because most restaurants don’t offer much variety around it. From my experience, most places that serve French toast don’t do it justice and I think that can be attributed to a few things. For one, assuming it’s a breakfast place, they are probably putting out high volume of orders. Often times this can result in thinner slices and drier toast, understandably due to the need to conserve portions and put out orders quickly. Another reason might be because better restaurants often only serve French toast as a breakfast item, allowing it to get overlooked as a featured dish. Whatever the case may be, I definitely prefer making it at home because you can control all the flavors and variables that go into the dish.
French toast can be so much better if you just take the time to soak the bread enough to yield a soft fluffy result instead of a chewy dry texture. Here are two recipes that can help you step up your French toast and get creative with the flavors.
Cardamom French toast (sweet)
Ingredients: Custard dip Coconut milk – 1-2 cans 2 egg yolks Mirin (can replace with sugar or honey) Cardamom – 1-3 tablespoons Cinnamon – 1 tablespoon Freshly ground nutmeg Vanilla extract – a few drops Coconut extract – a few drops (optional)
Other Loaf of challah or brioche Butter Sliced almonds or other crush nuts Poppy seeds or sesame seeds (optional) Citrus zest (optional) Mint (optional)
Toast: Step 1: Combine all the custard ingredients to until they are mixed well. Adding the miring or sweetener to the custard will help the toast to caramelize when cooking Step 2: Cut bread into 1.5 inch slices (you need thick slices up to 2 in. If you want) Step 3: Soak bread in custard; make sure it gets fully coated on both sides and soaks up the liquid Step 4: (medium to high heat, 5-7) Add a knob of butter to a nonstick pan and let it get hot – the butter should be bubbling before you put the toast in Step 5: Set the toast in the pan and let it sit until the bottom starts to brown and crisp up, then flip and let the same happen to the other side.
Syrup/custard reduction: Take the remaining custard and put it into a small pot on the stove and bring to a simmer. Add in more mirin (or other sweetener) and let it simmer uncovered so it reduces into a thick paste. Add more nutmeg/cardamom to taste. Once the custard is at the desired consistency, turn off the heat and mix in the nuts.
Plate the toast and top with your syrup reduction, citrus zest, poppy seeds and mint (or whatever else you would like)
Garlic & onion French toast (savory)
Ingredients: Savory custard dip Coconut milk – 1-2 cans 2 egg yolks Garlic cloves (a couple) Garlic powder Onion powder Any other herb/spice mixes (thyme, oregano, etc…) Salt
Other Loaf of challah or brioche Onions Zucchini Herb yogurt sauce Butter
Caramelized Topping Step 1: Slice onions and zucchini into thin pieces Step 2: Add sliced onions and zucchini to a sauce pan with some oil and salt to taste Step 3: On medium heat, cover with a lid and let them cook down, stirring once in a while until they caramelize (add a little butter or deglaze if needed) Step 4: (Optional) You can add different flavors to the caramelized onions like curry powder or paprika
Toast: Prep steps: Mince garlic Combine all the custard ingredients and mix well. (Optional but better) Heat custard to a brief simmer to bloom the garlic & herbs, then let cool in the fridge until room temp again
Step 1: Cut bread into 1.5 inch slices (you need thick slices up to 2 in. If you want) Step 2: Soak bread in custard; make sure it gets fully coated on both sides and soaks up the liquid Step 3: (medium to high heat, 5-7) Add a knob of butter to a nonstick pan and let it get hot – the butter should be bubbling before you put the toast in Step 4: Set the toast in the pan and let it sit until the bottom starts to brown and crisp up, then flip and let the same happen to the other side. Step 5: Lay down some type of sauce, plate the toast and top with the caramelized onions and zucchini
Notes: This dish is great paired with a light salad or mixed greens You can use cream too; I just prefer coconut milk In the picture I used leftover beef that I had from lunch but to keep it simple, I just used caramelized onions for the recipe You can customize most of the herbs, seasonings and flavors that go into this to make it your own
We’re just completing this convenience expansion downstairs on our home; and there have been 8+ of the most dedicated gentleman working on the project for months. So Christmas week I baked, and baked, and baked a bit more to show my appreciation. I don’t know about all of you banana bread bakers in this pandemicized world, but I’m a very merry messy baker. And there are images to prove it! However the cakes and loaves all turned out to be bright stars in a dazed and confused time. So give them a whirl to pep up your New Year’s Weekend, and glide sweetly, filled with lemon and rum into 2021.
Have a Helluva Happy New Year’s Weekend and an Even Livelier Entire Year. Vaccines are popping up all over the place…soon we will be hugging and loving on all of our family members and circle of friends! Grab the Lemon Loaf Recipe HERE. And the Rum Cake Recipe HERE. Run and Go Dance into 2021! I send lots of love to my Circle of Family, Circle of Friends, and Friends of this World Wide Web!
And Boy Oh Man do I have a FIRST, and DELIGHTFUL surprise waiting for you next week! Think…Clark, soccer, Shaker Heights, DC entrepreneur, foodie, delightful young gentleman, and lifelong family friend!
We’ve all been cooking, shopping, wrapping…and all of this while sadly refraining from being with our family and closest friends. Yep; it’s a drag. So I’m giving you a wee little Tuesday pep up to help manage this unfortunate stress. As good as it gets, just got a bit better; no recipe hunting and easy on the cook! So just order delivery service from your local Trader Joe’s, and call it a day. (If your local Trader Joe’s doesn’t offer delivery service, Amazon will do it for you!)
This is my very favorite Fast and Furious supper. Butternut Squash Ravioli and Vodka Tomato Sauce. Cook according to package directions and top with grated Parmesan cheese. Zero to Sixty in 5.2 Package to mouth in 13 minutes!
Hello! Hello! It’s Friday (in an hour!) and I’m feeling all shrimpy for the weekend. This little pleaser is bright and satisfying, all in the same bite. It’s a cinch to concoct and you’ll be so happy you did. Have a happy weekend and I’ll see ya next week with some child friendly creations that I’m going to make Saturday with my “Littles”, who just turned five this month. What?!
For Shrimp:
1 Tbs olive oil
1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 t salt
1/4 t ground black pepper
For Pasta:
1 lb angel hair pasta
1 t kosher salt
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 2 lemons
1/2 t fresh black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
2 Tbs capers, fried
In medium sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium high.
Season shrimp with salt and pepper.
Add to pan in single layer.
Cook 2 to 3 minutes per side, until pink. Set aside.
Cook pasta in large pot of boiling water until tender firm,
around 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta water.
Whisk oil, Parmesan, lemon zest, and lemon juice in large bowl to blend.
Toss pasta with lemon sauce, shrimp, and pasta water (adding 1/4 cup at a time until proper moisture is achieved).
Season with salt, pepper, and basil.
Garnish with capers and more Parmesan.
To Fry Capers:
Drain, rinse, and dry capers.
Heat 1/4 inch vegetable oil in small skillet over medium high.
Add capers and fry 2 minutes until they “pop” and are crisp.
Remove with slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.
Sliding in to Thursday on a Sweet Note you Good Folks of the InterWeb! I tried and tried to carve out time to make these yummies with my three golden grandchildren…alas, I was so lazily enjoying their hugs and conversation the last couple of times that we were together that I ended up making them on my own last week. But check out that cute little car that Liam left here 7 1/2 years ago; it still lives in my kitchen window sill. So that’s my garnish and nod to my grands, and the children in all of us who love a hand held pie memory from our youth! Yum.
Filling: 3 cups blueberries 1/2 cup granulated sugar 3 Tbs cornstarch Zest of 1 lemon Juice of 1/2 lemon 1 t vanilla extract Pastry 3 sheets frozen puff pastry (from two packages, such as Pepperidge Farm), thawed 1 large egg beaten with 2 Tbs water Glaze: 2 cups powdered sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling: Combine blueberries and granulated sugar in medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and cook, stirring, until sugar is melted, and berries start to burst. Stir together cornstarch and lemon juice in small bowl until combined. Add to the blueberry mixture. Add lemon zest and vanilla and continue to cook until glossy and thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
For the pastry: Preheat the oven to 400°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. To make the pies: Unfold the thawed pastry and roll out to 10-inch squares. Cut each square in quarters, making four 5-inch squares from each. Spoon 1 1/2 Tbs of cooled filling onto one corner of each square.
Brush around the squares with the egg wash. Fold the pasty over the filling on each to make a triangle, pressing lightly to remove air pockets. Crimp the edges shut with a fork. Put the pies on the prepared baking sheets. Brush the tops of pies with egg wash. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack set over a baking sheet. For the glaze: Mix powdered sugar, vanilla and 1/3 cup cold water in a bowl until smooth. Drizzle glaze over pies and let set until dry.
Just in time for the weekend…the temp promises to be a bit more comfortable for Fall Ball Y’all! We are all about a jazzy grilled cheese lunch and then heading to the ball park for late afternoon and evening games, under the lights! Please know that we are super careful; We group together as families, in our own circle of chairs. We are 12 feet apart from the next family. We are not allowed on bleachers. We do not exchange even elbow bumps with other families. But it still brings great joy to be there for the love of the children, grandchildren, and the game! And now to share a great thought here:
“We believe in friendship, In community, And in gathering side by side. We believe in lively conversation… The kind where our differences are realized and met with honor. The kind where we leave having been made better. We believe that when gathered around the table, There’s room enough for all of us. Where strangers become friends. And friends become family.” Magnolia Journal, Summer 2020. Joanna and Chip Gaines.
Let’s spread faith not fear. Happy Weekend!
For 4 sandwiches: 8 slices favorite bread 2 cups grated Colby jack cheese 1/2 cup sliced cherry tomatoes 1/4 cup chopped sweet onion Kernels from 3 ears corn, sautéed or grilled until tender Salt and pepper to taste 1 cup pimento cheese 2 Tbs soft butter
Mix together Colby jack, tomatoes, onion, corn, salt, and pepper. Spread on 4 slices bread. Top with dollop pimento cheese; spread to edges. Spread butter on all other sides of bread. Grill or sauté 3 or more minutes per side.
PegHardee.com Insight into Southern Cuisine and Hospitality 