A Restructuring of Sorts....

I hate to admit it, but I've been pretty terrible about updating this. Unfortunately, school and all my extracurriculars have to come first, and I've only had time to cook full meals on the weekends. That being said, I'm STILL determined to finish this book! Therefore, I have a new game plan.

I'm still going to go through it doing a recipe from each chapter, however, instead of doing the next recipe in the chapter, I'm going to do whatever recipe in the chapter contains most of what I already have in my kitchen. I still won't be updating as often as I did last year, but hopefully it will be somewhat regularly!

Also, I'm trying to figure out if I can have notifications sent to my followers and others when I do update. As much as I love texting you all, this would be sooo much easier.

I have some leftover Thai stir fry calling my name, so I will be back to update when I can!!

IT'S BACK!!

Hey everyone! As promised, my blog is officially back! With my week of absolutely no obligations, I figured some cooking would do me some good. I can't promise that I'll be able to update as frequently as I used to, but I'm going to try for at least once a week.

Anyhow, tonight I made Chicken Piccata, the healthiest of the Everyday Cutlets in the Everyday Entrees chapter. What's even better, is that I got to make this meal for TWO people since my roommate, Katie (actually, more like an apartment mate, cause we don't actually share one room. Thank you off-campus housing), will be home later after work.

As usual, I took the chicken out of the freezer too late and had to help it defrost by running it under some cold water. It really had no bearing on the outcome, because that chicken was as moist as ever (not to toot my own horn or anything...). The chicken that I have is quite thick, so I had to half it, and was surprisingly successful. I suppose I've come a long way from my crooked cutting of eggplant, tuna steaks, etc.

I seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper then dredged it in flour. I had never done this before. If I'm going to coat chicken, I usually just bread it using the flour-egg-bread crumbs method. However, this was really good. It gave it just enough coating to really absorb the sauce, but not enough to make it unhealthy.

After melting some butter and heating some oil, I cooked the chicken for about three minutes on each side, then removed it from the pan and added some chicken stock, lemon juice, and capers. As that was brought to a boil, I thought it might be a good idea to make sure that the chicken was cooked all the way through. It's always nerve-racking for me to check the done-ness of meat, especially poultry or fish...and especially when I'm cooking for someone else. Whenever I cut into one piece to check it, I swear I do it with one eye open, bracing myself for some half-cooked nightmare. Fortunately, I did well this time. Literally.

As the sauce cooked I added some fettuccine to my pot of boiling water. I've learned the hard way that fettuccine takes longer to cook than spaghetti, and most certainly longer than angel hair. Last time I cooked it, it was still a little hard. I like my pasta a bit before it hits al dente, but definitely not crunchy. I still have some work to do on my fettucini cooking.

I added the chicken back to the pan and lowered the heat once the sauce came to a boil, turning the chicken every so often so all sides could absorb it. I then put the chicken and the sauce over some pasta, and topped it with some Parmesan cheese, of course.

I have to say, after not working with this book for quite a few months, I was nervous that I may have lost my Giada touch, but I think I still have it. No lie, this was soooooo good. Like I said before, the chicken was moist and it did absorb the sauce well. The sauce itself was a good balance between the lemon and the capers with nothing overpowering (I have a tendency to go overboard with lemon, especially when I use fresh lemon juice). Also, there was just enough sauce to coat the one cup of pasta I used. Overall, delicious.

It's good to be doing this again, especially now that I'm off-campus with my own kitchen about 7 feet from my bedroom door. No more Rachael Raying my way up the stairs with arms full of pots, pans, knives, and food. No more baking things in toaster ovens and using a makeshift double burner. And though my space here is limited, my fridge space has increased exponentially considering I'm sharing it with one other person rather than five. Yes, life is good.

I'm planning on doing this again next Tuesday, since Tuesdays and Thursdays are my easy days. Next time I'll be making one of Giada's Quick and Simple recipes from the Everyday Contorni chapter: Sauteed Broccoli Rabe with Raisins and Pine Nuts. Interesting, right?

Revived!!

Hello readers,

I apologize for being M.I.A. (yes, missing in action, not referring to the rapper) for the past...4 months? It's been a little busy, and I haven't really settled into any sort of routine or schedule all summer. That being said, be prepared for more food fun when the school year starts. I began this project, and I fully intend to finish it! I'm moving back at the end of this week, then heading off to Bermuda, followed by a week of nothing. During that week, be ready for some cooking and posting.

See you then ;)

Oh So Saucesome

Hey there!

Yes, it's been a reeeaaaalllly long time since I've updated in here. Don't worry, I have in fact eaten since then. I've even cooked since then, just nothing from the project. To those who faithfully checked this thing each week (Mom?), I apologize. But here it is, an update!

Tonight I made "Spinach and Mushroom Ravioli" from the stuffed pasta section of the "Everyday Pasta, Polenta, and Risotto" chapter. I had some help with this one from a certain someone named Ryan who made all the multi-tasking much more manageable. He's also just nice to have around in general. Anyhow, here's how it all went down.

We started by dicing up some mushrooms and sauteing them with some EVOO spray. Then we threw in some spinach and let it cook a couple more minutes. As this all happened, I was laying out won ton wrappers like it was my job (and I suppose it was at that moment) to make the ravioli from "scratch."

This recipe actually has you use the won ton method unlike the pumpkin ravioli. I find this odd considering the spinach and mushroom would be much easier to find in a grocery store than the pumpkin ravioli. Just sayin'.....

Once the mushrooms and spinach were sauteed to our liking, we removed them from the heat and let them cool (and I used this time to switch over my laundry that had slowly taken over my walk-in closet of a room). The next step allowed me to use one of my new gadgets, a food processor!! Yes, I received a food processor for my 21st birthday and I was ECSTATIC. We put the mixture into the food processor and pulsed it until it was a coarse texture. It actually kind of came out looking like bright green hummus. I was supposed to stir in some mascarpone cheese along with Parmesan next, but I've grown tired of buying containers of mascarpone, using a tablespoon of it, and then having it go bad in my fridge. Therefore, I improvised with two wedges of garlic and herb Laughing Cow cheese. Similar? Taste-wise, not really. Texture-wise, certainly.

Before filling the won tons with the spinachy goodness, I brushed them with a egg wash (which they needed because apparently when you let won ton wrappers sit out for any given amount of time, they sort of dry out. Oops!). Then I put one heaping teaspoon of filling onto each, sealed it around the center, and pressed the edges with a fork. I still don't own a ravioli cutter, but did not attempt to make cool edges on these ones. I've learned that butter knives literally don't cut it when it comes to designs.

And now, for more multitasking. First, we got a pot of water boiling to cook the raviolis. As I assembled the pasta, Ryan sauteed more mushrooms for the sauce. We cooked about four raviolis at a time so they wouldn't stick together (even though they still did) and it took about three minutes for each batch. We added some sauce from a jar (what?!?!?!?!) to the sauteed mushrooms and served it over the raviolis.

It was pretty good overall, but we both agreed that there was something missing from the filling. I think it was my use of Laughing Cow over mascarpone. I'll have to work out the kinks on that one. I do have a lot of filling left over that I think will be a good dip for chips or crackers, or perhaps a good topping for toasted Italian bread? Hmmm....

The next recipe will be from the "Everyday Entrees" chapter and to be honest, I don't know when I will be tackling that one. Check back every so often and you may just be lucky enough to see something new :)

Recipe Revolution

But really, when are my recipes NOT revolutions? Or....at least MY version of them. I'm just going to jump right into this one.

Today, I made the last of the "Everyday Tomato Sauces" with "Tuna and Tomato Sauce." Fear not, I refused to eat tuna this time around. Third time is not the charm in this case, because I am not willing to try it a third time. In its place, I used tilapia, ergo, I introduce to you, "Tilapia and Tomato Sauce." It still has that nice alliteration :)

There's really no use in going through how the recipe should go, because I just kind of winged this one. I started by searing the tilapia with some capers and lemon juice until it was cooked all the way through and could be flaked (what a horrible term to describe a food item. Honestly? Flaked?) I then turned down the heat and added my marinara sauce (that had been frozen from the last time I made it) and heated it through.

All the while, I cooked some spaghetti. How easy is this recipe? Final step, I drained the pasta, put it on a plate, and topped it with the sauce. Voila.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Obviously, it was much better than if I had used tuna (I'm having flashbacks of choking it down in the past), but the tilapia didn't really stand out. However, tilapia sort of tastes like whatever you cook it in or with, so I guess it did its job? The marinara was great as usual, and probably even better than when I initially made it from being frozen.

Not gonna lie, I probably won't make this again. Oh well. Can't win every time.

That's all the updating I intend to do this week, check back again next week though!

Dear Followers,

I have been terrible at updating my blog, I'm well aware. And for this, I am very sorry. Unfortunately, I will only be able to update this about once a week seeing as my spring season for field hockey starts this week. Also, college has suddenly become very, very time-consuming (go figure, right?).

So, again, I'm sorry for not updating at all this week but believe me, it's killing me that I'm not cooking more! Stay tuned for one update this week, I promise!!

Tomatoes and Tiramisu

...but not together. That's just gross. I apologize for not updating sooner, but I've been absolutely SWAMPED with things to do around here. I have been able to cook amidst the chaos, however, I haven't had much time to sit down and type this up.

That being said, let's get started! I did another "Tricolore" recipe from the "Everyday Antipasti" chapter which was rather familiar. Who hasn't had some version of a Caprese Salad before?

You may notice the picture of the gross looking cheese accompanying my beautiful salad above. Allow me to explain. While I was home, I bought some boccinni (I know I butchered the spelling) to use along with grape tomatoes for this recipe. I thought it would be cool to have the ingredients all the same size. Well, I really should have used my ingredients sooner. Upon retrieving my cheese from the refrigerator, I think it's pretty obvious that it had become inedible.

A minor setback if you ask me. Instead, I opted for two sticks of light string cheese. Sure, it's not the same as fresh mozzarella, but desperate times call for such actions.

To make the salad, I sliced up the tomatoes and cheese and tossed them in a bowl. I then whisked together some EVOO (actual, not spray of course), lemon juice, salt and pepper. I then tossed the dressing with the salad and BAM, there you have Caprese Salad. It's so simple, but so flavorful. I never thought to incorporate the lemon juice in the dressing before, but it really made a difference especially in comparison to say a balsamic vinaigrette.

And now, my second recipe that I need to write about: Tiramisu. As I mentioned in my previous post, I needed to go out of order in this cycle so that I could use my Chocolate Zabaglione before it went bad. I broke my rule, but I really don't mind considering it was delicious.

I started by stirring some mascarpone cheese until it was smooth. I then whisked together some Cool Whip Free and sugar. The recipe, as always, called for me to make my own whipped cream using full-fat cream, but considering how fattening Tiramisu is to begin with, I decided to give it a little makeover.

I folded the cheese into the cream, then folded in my Chocolate Zabaglione and refrigerated the resulting cream. Next, I made some instant espresso thanks to the ever-so-strong Starbucks Via. This was used to coat the lady fingers (for those not in the know, these are light, pretty much flavor-less cookies. A softer type of biscotti). I lined the bottom of my pan with a layer of dipped lady fingers, then topped that with some of the cream. I repeated this step, then ended with a layer of semi-dipped lady finger because...I ran out of coffee. These cookies soak up liquid like its going out of style leaving me with little to work with by the end.

The Tiramisu was supposed to be to be refrigerated, then flipped upside-down to be served after sifting some cocoa over the top. This is far too complicated for a dish that's just going to be devoured by college students. I didn't have a chance to take a picture of the Tiramisu because by the time I thought to do so, there was little of it left and being the child I can be at times, I kind of destroyed it by mindlessly poking at it with a fork.

It wasn't the prettiest Tirsmisu anyway, so I'll save a picture of it for when I have it perfected.

That's all I have for tonight. I plan on taking a couple of cooking days off in order to make a bigger dent in my declining balance and to give myself some time to get ahead on my work. Don't you hate when priorities get in they way of fun?

Whisk It Good

This "Puddings and Creams" section of the "Everyday Dolci" chapter is my weakness. Two recipes in, and I'm in love. Chocolate Zabaglione was the final straw.

May I first point out that a pudding or cream with such a complex name seems like a daunting task. But fear not, we have Giada on our side. And her recipes are "everyday" meaning they are simple and that anyone can do them. Myself included.

I started by simmering some fat-free evaporated milk (in place of whipping cream as usual) and learned, again, that fat-free foods do not function the same as whole fat ones. Though not as big a failure as attempting to brown light butter, the evaporated milk separated a little bit and I had to whisk it to get it back together.

After removing the milk from the heat, I stirred in some chocolate chips until the mixture was completely smooth. Next, I filled a pot with about two inches of water and brought it to a simmer. As it heated, I put four egg yolks, sugar, cooking wine, and a pinch of salt into a glass bowl that I placed over the water. Next, I whisked.

I whisked for approximately four minutes. Or at least I think it was about that amount of time. When I started whisking, I realized that the clock on the microwave had not been set, and my cell phone was in my bedroom, so there was no other way to keep track of time. I could have stopped once the mixture came to 160 degrees, but yes, I do not have a thermometer. So i counted to 240-Mississippi. Like I true college kid, I always find a way to make due.

The mixture became thicker which was promising. This was the step that could really make or break it all. I removed this from the heat then folded in the chocolate mixture. It became what you see drizzled over my frozen strawberries above.

The final product was probably not as thick as it typically would be considering I used fat-free milk in place of full-fat cream, but it was still to die for. The salt in the cream gave it a sweet and salty contrast (which I LOVE!) and the tart strawberries added another dimension of taste.

Gina Neeley says that "cute girls don't lick the bowl." Well then call me a brute, because I certainly did without any hesitation. I was in the comfort of my own room though, so I didn't look like a total animal.

And there you have it, cycle EIGHT through the book! I now have an announcement to make. I will be cooking again tomorrow night starting from the first chapter, but then instead of moving on to another sauce, on Friday, I will be making the next dessert. It requires Chocolate Zabaglione so I made enough today for that recipe and don't think I should keep it refrigerated until I come around to the last chapter again. I know, I'm going against my own self-imposed rules, but I still feel weird going out of the order that I set out to accomplish this project.

Anyhow, I will see you again tomorrow night when I start cycle nine!!

Give Peas a Chance

Again, sucker for wordplay.

Tonight we venture once again into the world of "Everyday Contorni" with our first recipe in the "Quick and Simple" section which happens to be Peas and Prosciutto.

I don't hate peas, but they're certainly not my first choice in vegetables. I also don't hate prosciutto, it's just something I like to eat in small doses (it's probably healthier to keep it that way as well). Needless to say, the excitement level for this one was not on the higher end of the spectrum.

I started by sauteing some garlic and a shallot for about a minute. This was my first time working with shallots and they're a really interesting food. They're pretty much mini onions with a more mild taste. I really liked them, and I think I may need to try them roasted or caramelized in the future. I then added some defrosted frozen peas and sauteed those for about five minutes.

The recipe says to stir in the prosciutto along with some parsley, salt, and pepper once the rest of the dish has been cooked and removed from the heat, but I prefer my prosciutto a bit crispier. It take away the ham-like quality of it. I do despise ham. I added the prosciutto in for the last two minutes of so of cooking.

As suggested, I removed all of this from the heat after it was thoroughly cooked, and stirred in the seasoning. And that was it! The dish truly was quick and simple. Kudos, Giada, for sticking to your word (not that I ever doubted you).

As for the dish itself, the peas were a little overcooked and kind of dry on the inside. Luckily the seasoning and the prosciutto made up for it. I was glad I had crisped up the prosciutto because it became the star of the dish and I feel it wasn't quite as salty as it normally would be.

This would generally be served as a side dish, but I find it difficult to cook 1/6 of the recipe just for myself to taste, so I just made a meal out of it. It would be a nice compliment to a meal though. Maybe if I could work on the cooking of my peas. But then again, I don't usually opt for them, so why should I?

That's all I have for today. I will be cooking again this Wednesday when I try out another dessert. Another CHOCOLATE dessert at that :) See you then!

Moon Over Chicken Parm-a

I'm a sucker for terrible puns and wordplay. I apologize. If you can't tell by the title, I made Chicken Parmesan tonight. This was the first recipe from the "Everyday Cutlets" section of the "Everyday Entrees" chapter. It's another one of those recipes that I always expected to be so complex and time-consuming, but it really can't get much easier.

The most time-consuming part of the recipe had to due with my lack of marinara sauce. I had to whip up some before attempting the recipe and, luckily, I had double-checked this earlier today. Had I started the recipe not knowing I would need sauce, I would still be cooking and very hungry.

The marinara sauce takes between and hour and an hour and a half, but after that it was smooth sailing. I tossed the chicken cutlet in some EVOO spray and Italian seasoning (no fresh herbs here, but come next year when Katie and I have our herb garden, my dishes will be singing a different tune). I then cooked the chicken for one minute on each side in a smoking hot pan just to brown the outsides.

The toaster oven was preheated at about 450 degrees (the recipe said 500, but anything higher than 450 on the toaster oven is broil, and I knew that wasn't how this should be cooked). I put the chicken on the cooking tray, covered it all around with some sauce, then topped it lightly with mozzarella cheese. Giada says in her introduction of this recipe that she lightens it up by not smothering the chicken in cheese (hey look! Someone else thinks healthy like me!) and, in case you haven't noticed at this point, by not breading it.

I finished it off with some Parmesan cheese on top (obviously) then let it cook till the cheese was melted and browned, about 5 or 6 minutes.

That's it! That is Chicken Parmesan ala Giada. I have to say, it was just as good without all those bread crumbs clouding the chicken flavor. I liked that the recipe called for more actual Parmesan cheese than mozzarella, and the dish did taste lighter overall. I'm used to being in a food coma after a serving of chicken parm and spaghetti, but this cutlet alone was just enough! I must also say, that I can now make marinara sauce in my sleep, and it's a damn good marinara sauce (sorry Mom and Dad, but yes, I did just use the word damn).

I'll be taking tomorrow off for the national holiday. It's my birthday in case you haven't heard. I'll be turning the big 2-1 so hopefully I can find some dinner off-campus so I can enjoy a glass of wine on the side! Until next time!

The Smashing of the Pumpkins

What you see pictured above is certainly not the prettiest thing I've ever made. It was without a doubt the most interesting though. It's another recipe from the "Everyday Stuffed Pastas" section of the "Everyday Pasta, Polenta, and Risotto" chapter. Introducing, Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage and Toasted Hazelnuts.

Where might one find pumpkin ravioli? I have no idea. Perhaps some sort of Italian specialty store or something. I knew I would not be able to find it anywhere and to save my self the frustration, I decided to make my own pumpkin ravioli. You're probably picturing me slaving away making homemade pasta, then running it through a pasta machine and what not. No, no. Turns out my constant watching of Food Network has paid off and I used wonton wrappers instead.

What's even better, I looked ahead to the next stuffed pasta recipe in the book, and Giada actually has you use this method for the next one! Ergo, I followed those instructions.

First off, I toasted the hazelnuts in the toaster oven for about seven minutes at 350 degrees. To my surprise, they did not get as fragrant as I had hoped, but they were still delicious.

Next, I set off making my ravioli. I started with some canned pumpkin and added just a touch of pumpkin pie spice to it. Then I made an egg wash to make the ravioli stick together with one egg white and touch of water. I spooned a teaspoon or so of the pumpkin onto one wonton wrapper that I had brushed with the egg wash, then pressed another wrapper on top of that.

I put far too much filling in each ravioli and it seeped out the sides which made me worried about the wrapper sticking together. I was supposed to use a ravioli cutter to trim the edges, but I don't happen to have one of those just lying around, so I tried to make semi-fancy edges with a butter knife. No such luck.

Once my water was at a boil, I carefully dropped the raviolis in and waited for the to float. Let me tell you, this step was terrifying. The whole time I was expecting them to completely fall apart and end up with a pot of orange goodness, but for some odd reason I must have done something right and they weren't too bad. I should've listened to Giada when she said to add some vegetable oil to the water to prevent the ravioli from sticking to each other though.

I tried to get the ravioli out of the water without them falling apart, but one or two kind of burst a bit. And they stuck together. This didn't really bother me considering I don't need to have them separated to eat them.

Next, I went to work on the brown butter sauce. Being the naive health nut that I am, I bought light butter considering this recipe called for a good amount of actual butter. Note to self: light butter does NOT brown. This wasn't too big of a deal, because it still tasted good, I was just expecting something totally different. After about four minutes, I added some torn up sage leaves to the butter, then removed it from heat and stirred in a little more pumpkin pie spice.

I topped the whole dish off with the toasted (and chopped) hazelnuts as well as some Parmesan cheese. Like I said before, it wasn't pretty. But I never claimed to be a food stylist. Despite its appearance, the dish was quite good! It had a distinct autumn flavor to it and was kind of like comfort food. If I had gone for the full fat version, it may have turned out more as expected, but I still like the taste of light butter so it was fine by me.

And did I mention that I made my own ravioli? :)

I will be cooking AGAIN tomorrow night (crazy!) so please come read again then!

Turkey For You, And Turkey For Me...

Turkey is one of those meats that I wish we ate more often than Thanksgiving. I'm a huge fan of Thanksgiving, and I'm glad that Jenny-O has started selling those turkey tenderloins that are pre-marinated so we can eat turkey more often. I never thought, however, to use turkey in a meatball. It almost seems blasphemous. But sometimes, blasphemy can be a good thing.

Tonight I made another "Everyday Tomato Sauce" from the "Everyday Sauces" chapter. The recipe was Turkey Meatballs in Tomato Sauce. At first, I felt a little gypped out of a new sauce recipe. After all, the tomato sauce is just marinara sauce so the only new part of the recipe was the meatballs which are not a sauce. But really, does it matter? I got to make something new and that's what really counts.

Luckily, I had the exact amount of marinara sauce needed frozen in the freezer for this recipe. I didn't have to take time to make it last night which, though I enjoy doing it, was a nice break. I had made my Mimi's recipe for meatballs this past summer so I had some idea of what I was doing, but of course those were traditional meatballs made with regular ground beef and boatloads of cheese (they're delicious, but I'm still working on perfecting them).

I started with some bread crumbs, parsley, an egg white, skim milk, Romano cheese, salt and pepper. Yes, the recipe did call for whole eggs and whole milk, but why spoil a perfectly healthy dish with unnecessary fat? I whisked this together with a fork until it was as evenly combined as possible. Next, I added the ground turkey and basically mushed it all together with my hands. That is the most fun part about making meatballs, it is literally hands on, and you get to play with food :)

As all this was going on, I had the toaster oven preheating at 400. I then formed the meat mixture into bite-sized meatballs and placed them on my tray sprayed with EVOO. They cooked for about 18 minutes. The recipe wanted me to fry them of course, but when have I ever fried anything? As they cooked, I warmed up the marinara sauce and added a little tomato paste to thicken it up.

Once the meatballs were done, it was time for the moment of truth. One of the pitfalls of baking is that you don't know if you were successful until the food is done cooking. The tension caused by this is heightened when the food that is cooking is poultry and simply cannot be rare. I broke open one of the bigger meatballs, and they were thankfully cooked all the way through. I tossed them in the marinara sauce and sprinkled some more Romano on top.

I was a little scared that the meatballs would be totally dry and just fall apart since I eliminated a lot of the fat. I even bought 93/7 ground turkey rather than using the dark meat suggested by Giada (not only do I not like dark meat, I also didn't see any at the grocery store). To my surprise, the meatballs had the perfect amount of moisture! The flavor wasn't quite as bold as a ground beef meatball, but I think the cheese and parsley complimented the subtle turkey taste.

Overall, definitely a good dish for when you're craving meatballs, but not craving the guilt of eating too many of the traditional kind. I was able to have seven of these babies :)

That's it for tonight, tomorrow will be something COMPLETELY new to me, so come visit then!

Ok, I'm a terrible updater and did not do anything worth posting this week. I am so sorry! I hate when people don't keep their word so I truly do feel bad about not cooking all week (well, I did cook, but it wasn't from this project, and wasn't anything ground breaking).

You know what this means? Expect some updates pretty much every night next week when I'm back at school. Well, every night other than Friday which is my birthday! I will not be cooking that night, hopefully I'll be getting food made for me at a restaurant or something.

Again, I'm sorry! I've been as lazy as my dog is in the above picture this week and haven't gotten around to many productive things. Until next week!

Hello all. I'm sorry, but there won't be any food updates this week :( I will be home for break next week so check back for more then, but this week I have way too much to do between work, tests, and everything else I'm suddenly involved in! Did I mention I also need to get a tire fixed before traveling 4 hours home on Friday? Good times. Like I said, come back next week, or stay connected with me through the music blog (which may be updated at least once this week). Here's a clip of a funny commercial to make amends.

Click Here!

Holy Tricolore!

Hello all, sorry for such a late update today. I made and ate this recipe at approximately 5 p.m., then was pulled into about a billion different directions causing my update to be about five hours late. Oops!

We start off our eighth cycle through Everyday Italian in the "Tricolore" section of the "Everyday Antipasti" chapter. As the name implies, "tricolore" refers to three colors, specifically the three colors of the Italian flag; red, white and green. How might one take the colors of the flag and translate them into a dish? Why by using tomatoes, cheese, and basil of course! Honestly, could it get any better? I think not.

Tonight's recipe was called "Panino Alla Margherita." Obviously, it was a panini. But, I would like to call mine the poor man's version of the panini. For starters, I was supposed to use "rustic white bread." In my attempt to save my own money and use the abundance of declining dining dollars I have here at school, I went shopping at the campus convenience store which is hardly any sort of specialty store. Instead, I bought some stone ground whole wheat bread (equally delicious, possibly more flavor).

On top of one of these bread slices I was supposed to place a slice of fresh mozzarella cheese. Though sometimes the sub line has fresh mozzarella displayed with the various salads offered in our convenience store, it did not have any, to my knowledge, this week. Luckily, I happened to have some light string cheese in my fridge that I was willing to use in its place. I sliced up my string cheese and placed it on the bread.

This is topped with some salt and pepper (which I of course had), and some fresh basil leaves. If I had asked for fresh basil leaves on campus, they would have laughed in my face. Dried basil took its place. Definitely not the same, but it worked just fine.

Next I placed two slices of tomato on the sandwich. I actually was able to scrounge up half a tomato from Katie's house (Lawn Ave, I owe you) and it's a good thing too. I was about to replace it with either tomato paste of crushed tomatoes. DEFINITELY not the same.

I seasoned this with more salt and pepper then placed the other piece of bread on top. The recipe then asks you to brush each side of the sandwich with oil. I opted for the EVOO spray, just as good AND fat-free.

You're supposed to cook the panini on a griddle or grill pan. I really didn't feel like lugging the George Foreman out just for a sandwich, so i just cooked it in a pan. Sure, it didn't have pretty grill marks, but it DID have a pretty golden brown color.

This was really quick and easy to make and very flavorful despite my many substitutions. The bread was nice and crispy, and the cheese was just melted enough to hold the sandwich together. The warm tomato was the star of the show. When you heat a tomato, it seriously brings about flavors that you didn't know it had. The basil enhances the flavor even more.

Did I mention that this was healthier than your average panini? Well it was. And it's the closest thing I've had to grilled cheese in a long time (and to be honest, it was way better than any grilled cheese I've ever made). I give this one two thumbs up.

All this talk of red, white and green definitely had me in Jersey Shore mode (sorry Alyssa Milano, I know you would take offense to that). I didn't fist pump, but I did think of Pauly D and his DJ equipment covered in the Italian flag. I tried to find of clip of this, but it was a situation.

All right I swear I'm done with the Jersey Shore references. Good night!

Puddin's and Creams

In the words of Buddy the Elf, "I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!!" What you see above is to die for. And soooooo simple. Allow me to explain.

As suggested by the title of this post, we are now in the "Everyday Creams and Puddings" section of the "Everyday Dolci" chapter. Honestly, how can you NOT be excited about that (well, maybe because YOU don't actually get to eat it, and I do). Tonight, I made Affogato. Don't be fooled by the tricky name. According to Giada, this is the Italian version of a hot fudge sundae. In my opinion, it's the adult hot fudge sundae. No, it does not contain alcohol of any sort, it contains COFFEE!!

Here it goes. Giada's recipe asks you to make your own homemade whipped cream. I opted for the healthy version and bought some Cool Whip Free (you are not surprised by this). Next, you boil some water, then dissolve one tablespoon of espresso powder in it. Considering I was only making one serving of this, I microwaved two tablespoons of water rather than boiling it. I was a little concerned about buying espresso powder (you'd be surprised about what you CAN'T find in stores around here), but luckily, my campus just got a Starbucks. A Starbucks that sells Via! Did I mention that it accepts the $1000 of declining balance that I need to use up before the end of the semester?

I dissolved the Via into the water and made it quite strong (I absolutely love strong coffee). I then poured the coffee over some chocolate ice cream. No, this was not regular chocolate ice cream or chocolate gelato as suggested (if I knew where to find gelato around here, believe me, I would've splurged), it was Perry's Fat Free No Sugar Added chocolate ice cream.

You may be thinking "that diet crap doesn't taste anything like the real stuff." Well, you are wrong. This ice cream is just as good as any full fat kind, and you know what? I can eat more of it without feeling guilty. What's not to love?

I topped this off with my Cool Whip Free and dug right in. You know that song "Just One Look" by Doris Troy? I swear that was playing as I took a bite. This. Is. AWESOME! It's like a mocha, but better especially since it's somewhat healthy. I never thought to pour coffee over ice cream. It's just so obvious. Obvious and delicious.

So that's it. That is Affogato. Easy, right? Come back tomorrow night when I take on another easy appetizer in a new section of the chapter, and start my EIGHTH cycle through the book!

Shameless plug: Check out my side project music blog! http://thesoulkitchenmusic.blogspot.com/

A Day Late...

...but not a dollar short. I actually made my recipe last night, but due to a few missteps after eating it, and then a night of fun, I wasn't able to update until today.

I made another dish from "Everyday Contorni" last night called Herb-Roasted Root Vegetables. It was basically what I make as a side dish to my meals every night. Super easy, simple, and probably not nearly as interesting as what followed it. But I'll go over it anyway.

I started by preheating the toaster oven to 400 degrees and covering the tray with foil as usual. I then cut up some carrots, Brussels sprouts, and a sweet potato. The recipe called for parsnips as well, but it turns out that both Wal-Mart and Hannaford didn't have any at all. It would've made my search a little easier if I had known what a parsnip looked like, but I didn't. And I still don't.

I sprayed down the veggies with some EVOO and added some dried oregano and basil. I also chopped some fresh rosemary and threw that it with some salt and pepper. I then placed them evenly on the tray and allowed them to roast for about 35 minutes (stirring them occasionally).

Yup, that's all there was to it. an easy side dish (or big veggie meal) for any night of the week. Did I mention that the potatoes were actually cooked through this time? Anyhow, before taking on this recipe, I was invited over to my best friend's house for dinner. I explained to her that I was scheduled (yes, I do schedule when I make these recipes) to cook for the blog tonight and told her I would be over after. She was having a rough couple of days and wanted to make some comfort food, so I thought why not bring her something comforting for dessert?

I had two overly ripe bananas in my kitchen and decided that my semi-famous banana bread would be the way to go. However, I would need to use the actual oven upstairs, and the recipe takes over an hour to bake. I had a "brilliant" idea as I usually do, but this time it got me a one-way ticket on the fail boat.

I made my banana bread batter and poured a bit of it into my little ramekins (see Individual Vegetarian Lasagna pictures). Once my veggies were done, I placed the ramekins in the toaster oven...without turning down the temperature. It was at 400, but my banana bread needed to be at 325. Having it higher would just cook it faster, right? I was so very, very wrong. It turns out they put oven temperatures on recipes for a reason.

When one of the mini breads appeared to be nice and brown on the top, I removed it from the oven and let it sit. Honestly, it looked completely done, but when I flipped it out onto a plate, it went EVERYWHERE. The very top of it was bread-like, but the rest was just raw batter. At this point, I was more than a hour late to my best friend's, and decided to nix the whole idea. I even threw out the extra batter (after indulging in some, of course. I have no will power around raw batter).

I went over to my friend's, talked for awhile, tried some okra for the first time in the gumbo she made, and played the Game of Things. I highly recommend it.

So that was my night! I won't be cooking for the next couple of days. Sunday is the Super Bowl meaning I'll be making some dips, and then hopefully Tuesday I'll be back at it. Come back soon!

Mary Had A Little Lamb...

Dear friends and family, tonight, I feel as though I have committed a terrible crime against humanity. What you see above (if the title didn't give it away), are lamb chops. LAMB chops. Chops from a sweet, innocent, little lamb. I bought them yesterday, and had a very hard time bringing myself to do it. They're from a LAMB!!! Come on now, how adorable are lambs? And yes, I said lamb, not sheep, meaning it was just a baby!

I made the last recipe in the "Everyday Grills and Sautes" section of the "Everyday Entrees" chapter. And yes, it was Grilled Lamb Chops. I started by making a marinade of EVOO (yes, the real stuff), fresh rosemary, garlic, salt, and cayenne pepper. I put this all in my food chopper to form a paste, but lo and behold, the blade on my chopper don't quite hit the bottom of the barrel. And there wasn't much to the marinade. So really all the copper did was fling the ingredients around. Luckily, I had chopped most of the ingredients pretty well, so at that point I just said "screw it" and rubbed it on the chops and let them marinate.

As the chops marinated, I preheated the toaster oven and prepared some Brussels sprouts for a side dish. These grills and sautes recipes are never complete meals, and I never really know how they will turn out (let's face it, I'm no grill pro yet) so I'm always sure to roast some vegetables for the side. That way I know I won't starve.

I let the chops marinate for about half an hour (the very minimum suggested. I would have let them sit all day, but Tuesdays and Thursdays are my busy days, and I really didn't have time to do this at 6 a.m.). I then placed them on the smokin' hot George Foreman grill. According to the recipe, you need to sear the chops for two minutes on each side, then cook them for an additional three minutes per side to achieve a medium-rare doneness. I personally don't do medium-rare (I like my meat thoroughly dead), so I went for about five minutes per side.

I had no idea how these were supposed to look (or that they would contain so little meat, but it was a lamb after all), so I was a little freaked out at the abundance of red juice that resulted from cooking the chops and kept telling myself that it wasn't blood (cause it wasn't...right?).

It's obvious in the picture above that my marinade was hardly a paste. You can see some pretty full pieces of rosemary on those chops. This is probably why it tasted mostly like rosemary. I think I got a hint of lamb, it tasted like a mild steak, and it wasn't bad from what I could tell. It probably would have tasted better had it sit longer in the marinade, and if I had actually made a paste. I did eat the little bit of meat that was on there though. It was hardly a tuna situation. And of course, I ate every last Brussels sprout because they were roasted to perfection :)

And that is my crime story for the night. I've still got a guilty conscience about the whole thing. I think there was an episode of the Simpsons where Lisa couldn't eat meat because she kept seeing this lamb talk to her and make her feel guilty. I now know how she feels. But I'm not about to give up eating other meat.

I will be cooking again on Thursday so check back for some fun with veggies!!

What's Missing From this Picture...

...if you guessed a picture, then you are correct. I was completely distracted throughout the entire cooking process today, which fortunately did not detract from the quality of the food, but it did make me forget to take a picture. Therefore, you will be subjected to more pictures of my dog. Simply because he is awesome.

Tonight we visit another recipe from the "Everyday Stuffed Pastas" section of the "Everyday Pasta, Polenta, and Risotto" chapter. Beef and Cheese Manicotti was more involved than I thought it would be, and being distracted, it was hardly a smooth process.

First of all, I will take time to commend Wal-Mart on their pasta selection. I went there to pick up a few things, took a look at their pasta section thinking they couldn't possibly have manicotti shells, but lo and behold, they had them in their "Great Value" brand saving me time and money on my day of shopping. I don't say this often, but kudos Wal-Mart, kudos.

I gathered all my ingredients together before I began cooking, but apparently I wasn't prepared enough. My beef was barely defrosted along with my marinara, I needed to chop an onion and some garlic that wasn't ready to go when I needed it, oh yeah, and I forgot that my baking dish doesn't fit in a toaster oven.

That being said, as I boiled my pasta water, I heated a pan and threw in the bit of beef that was defrosted (I really didn't need much of it), and the onion that I had quickly chopped up. Once it had browned and my onion was translucent, I removed it from the heat and let it cool. I then dropped my two manicotti shells in the boiling water and prepared my filling.

I mixed some ricotta, mozzarella, garlic, salt, pepper, and basil for the filling. Once the beef had cooled, I stirred it in. I then had to tackle my baking dish problem.

I covered my toaster oven tray with aluminum foil as usual, then partially covered that with some marinara sauce. I removed the manicotti from that water once they were firm, but gave a bit, then attempted to fill them.

In Giada's recipe, it simply says, "Fill the manicotti with the cheese-meat mixture," Easy right? No. Not without ripping the manicotti a bit and more filling falling out than going in. It was frustrating to say the least, but I survived. I placed the now stuffed manicottis on top of the sauce, then covered them with more sauce, mozzarella, and Parmesan. I baked it in the toaster oven for about 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

For some reason, I had a good amount of filling left over and decided to take a taste. I completely forgot that there was raw garlic in this mixture, so you can only guess what I bit directly into. Awesome. Thankfully I don't have to socialize with anyone today.

As I mentioned before, my distraction while cooking (which I didn't go into detail about. It was mainly text messages, answering our door, and talking to my roommates) did not take away from the goodness of my dish. I always feel so accomplished when my baked pasta is cooked through just right. It's a weird process leaving it all to chance in the oven after not cooking it completely in the pot. The cheese and beef mixture was creamy and smooth and full of flavor, and was complimented nicely by the marinara. I personally think I might make a big batch of this in place of something like baked ziti for a family party. That is if I can master the whole stuffing process.

Another day, another recipe, and I have two more planned for the week! I plan to cook again Tuesday, but only if I am able to obtain the main ingredient...check back then to see how it all goes down!

There Are No Absolutes in Life-Only Vodka...

I don't really know where that quote is from, but I know that it does relate to tonight's dish. I'll preface this entry by saying that I think I have found my new favorite thing to make. Yes, I have a lot of favorite things to make. But this dish is definitely in the top ten. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...Vodka Sauce!!

Seeing as I live on a dry campus, this was a covert operation that had to be conducted off campus. You may be thinking, "Brianne, you cook the alcohol out of this sauce and you hardly use any at all." You may also be noting that I've never actually disclosed what college campus I live on in any entry (however if you know me, then you would already know). All that being said, by the off chance that a college administrator looks at this blog and figures out who it is and where they are, I am not about to get kicked off campus for making sauce. End of story.

I always thought Vodka Sauce would be a long, complex process (don't ask me why. Delicious things always seem like they should be very time consuming). I was wrong. It all starts with some marinara sauce. Being the resourceful chef that I am, I froze some of the sauce I made earlier so it was already made and ready to go for this dish. You heat the marinara with some vodka for about 20 minutes to cook out the alcohol and reduce the mixture.

Note: Unless you want to taste death, DO NOT taste-test this sauce before it has reduced. I am speaking from experience.

After the reduction, you add some heavy cream or, my new favorite go-to item, fat-free evaporated milk. Once this has been heat through, you remove the pan from heat, stir in some Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper, and serve it over pasta. I chose the standard penne for mine.

I wasn't sure how the sauce would come out having not used heavy cream, but it didn't matter at all. The only thing that was missing was that terrible lethargic after-feeling from eating something so rich. When I first went on my healthy food kick, I feared I would never be able to eat a creamy sauce again without feeling guilty, but my nice little swap in this dish has proven that theory wrong!! I am in LOVE with my vodka sauce. In fact, I'm having leftovers tomorrow night.

Side note: according to Giada, vodka sauce is actually an Italian-American sauce. You will not find it in Italy!

I am officially cooked out for the week. I probably didn't make up all of the weeks I had taken off during my break, but I do feel as though I am back on track with this project. The next time I cook will probably be Sunday, so please check back then for more delicious eats!! Ciao!

Eggs-ellent

Sorry, I couldn't resist the corny title. You know me. Welcome readers to the SEVENTH cycle through Everyday Italian! Considering my field hockey jersey number is seven, this cycle is set to be one of the best yet. I've looked ahead to the recipes, and we're all (but especially me) in for a treat!

As you can probably deduce from the title, I made the last recipe from the "Everyday Antipasti" "Everyday Frittatas" section. Tonight's dish was Frittata with Asparagus, Tomato, and Fontina Cheese. Mmmmmm!!!!

Brace yourselves for some major improvisation coming up. To make my frittata, I first whisked together some eggs, evaporated milk (in place of heavy cream), salt, and pepper. Easy.

I then heated some EVOO spray in a pan and sauteed some asparagus for about two minutes. I never thought to saute asparagus. In my mind it's always been something you either roast or steam. You learn something new everyday.

As that was cooking, I had to seed and dice a tomato. Confession: I don't know how to seed a tomato. Rather than looking up this somewhat vital task, I took matters into my own hands. I mean, it obviously meant to remove the seeds in some way, right? I started by trying to maneuver my knife through the seedy parts of the tomato, but found this rather tedious and frustrating. Just as I was about to throw the seeds in with my diced tomato, I realized that the seeds fall out on their own pretty much once you start dicing. Dear Giada, you may want to make this a side note. Just a suggestion.

I added the tomato to the pan and then sauteed that for about two minutes. As it cooked, I ate the tomato remains. When I was younger and didn't eat anything other than bread, butter, or pasta, I always saw my mom pop tomatoes like they were candy. Seeing as I hated anything that had any nutritional value at the time (aside from broccoli heads), I found this disgusting. Being older and wiser, I now fully understand how someone could do this. I could easily eat an entire container of cherry or grape tomatoes or just slice up a normal sized one and eat it as is. And I would not feel bad about it.

Once the tomato had been thoroughly sauteed, I poured the egg mixture over the contents of the pan. Next, I was supposed to top it with some fontina cheese. I used the same logic as the previous entry with the mascarpone cheese and decided not to buy fontina for just one recipe. Instead, I used some Garlic and Herb Laughing Cow cheese (which, of course, is also a healthier alternative). I personally think it was better than the fontina would have been.

I cover the pan then let it cook another two minutes. Now comes the tricky part. As you may know from my last frittata recipe, you are supposed to stick the entire pan under the broiler to finish cooking it. My pans certainly are not "oven-safe" and they most definitely will not fit into a toaster oven (which has a handy-dandy broil feature). Ergo, I carefully transferred the half-cooked frittata to the little baking sheet, then cooked it over the broiler. As you can see in the above picture, it was far from perfect or pretty. But it did cook all the way through and brown rather nicely!

I must say, this frittata came out much better than my last. Everything was cooked all the way through, and to be honest, I liked the ingredients in this one better than the last. It was moist and full of flavor from the tomato and the hints of cheese here and there were nice surprises.

Who said you can't cook frittata in a toaster oven? Don't challenge a college student, they WILL prove you wrong. I will be cooking once again tomorrow night with a new sauce (it's one of my personal favorites...and will have to be cooked off-campus...dun dun dun). Check back tomorrow!!

P.S. For half the original recipe with my healthier alternatives, this recipe was only 6 WW points!! Hence why I have a boatload of frittata on my plate :)

She's a Pineapple Girl in a Nutella World...

Yes, those are definitely not the lyrics to that song. And if you know what song I'm referring to, congratulations :) What you see pictured above is a dessert so decadent, so delicious, I can hardly find the words to adequately describe it. The process of making it, not so smooth. I suppose I was overdo for an (almost) recipe meltdown. But here's how it all panned out.

The first step in making Grilled Pineapple with Nutella is to toast the hazelnuts, husk them, then chop them. I pretty much cut out this step by buying blanched hazelnuts that didn't need husking and just chopped them and set them aside.

Next, you are supposed to mix some mascarpone cheese with some vanilla extract. Last time I bought mascarpone for a recipe, I hardly used any of it at all and when I went to use it again (before it went bad I might add), it had grown mold since I hadn't used it in so long. In order to cut some calories and save some money by not wasting food, I opted for some Cool Whip Free. It's considerably less calories and fat, but still creamy and tasty.

Next, I had to take some Nutella and combine it with heavy whipping cream. I think I've mentioned this before, but I read on the WW website that a healthier substitute for cream in recipes is fat-free evaporated milk. I figured I could substitute it here just a easily. I was so very, very wrong.

After mixing the two together, you need to microwave it to warm it up, stirring every 20 seconds, for about one minute. The first time I went to stir it, it was chunky and partially solidified. The picture of the recipe in the book has this mixture looking like a drizzly syrup, so I knew this had to be wrong. I microwaved it for another 20 seconds hoping for some improvements. No such luck. It was even chunkier. Thinking on my feet, I wanted to add some milk to it to keep the flavor and hopefully reconstitute it. Unfortunately I had finished my milk a mere hour beforehand. BUT, I did happen to have some fat-free hazelnut creamer in my refrigerator that would solve my problem and certainly preserve the flavor. My Nutella mixture livened back up (though it still maintained some chunks. Turns out Nutella is delicious in any state of matter) and was able to drizzle somewhat easily over the pineapple.

As the above catastrophe ensued, I was grilling some pineapple rings on the George Foreman (I realize it would be easier to refer to it as "the grill" and everyone would more than likely know what I was talking about, but it's so much more fun to think of a heavyweight boxing champ helping me out in the kitchen, isn't it?). It only took about three minutes per side to warm the pineapple through and make some pretty grill marks.

For the assembly, I placed the pineapple on the plate, drizzled the Nutella on top of that, then topped it with the Cool Whip and chopped hazelnuts. One bite, and I was in love. This combination is AMAZING!! I know I have mentioned before that when it comes to desserts, I'm more of a chocolate than a fruit person, but this combined the two and was heaven. It's not a dessert to prepare for a large amount of people, but it's nice for maybe a group of four or maybe a date night.

That's all I have for now. I'll be taking a night off from Everyday Italian and come back to it on Tuesday to start my SEVENTH cycle through the book! Pretty crazy that I've done that many recipes so far. To celebrate, I will leave you with this clip from a classic show, Rob & Big.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl49uILa674&feature=related

Good Ole Steak 'n' Potatoes

Yes, that is what this dish basically is...but Italian! I will admit, I'm not really a steak-and-potatoes kind of girl. I would rather have a nice, fresh salad, or perhaps a hearty pasta dish with some lean meat than that traditional combination. However, after tonight, I could be convinced otherwise.

I tackled TWO recipes tonight with Steak Florentine and Roasted Baby Potatoes with Herbs and Garlic. Steak and potatoes. I started with the potatoes. Being the slightly more experienced chef that I am now, I read through both recipes yesterday so I knew how to manage my time today (...or maybe I was just really excited to cook and wanted to read up on it). I started the potatoes at about quarter to four. First, I minced a small clove of garlic and put it in a bowl with some Italian seasoning and parsley. I whisked this all together with some olive oil (yes, I used ACTUAL olive oil) then tossed some fingerling potatoes in it with salt and pepper. I then baked them in the toaster oven for about an hour at 400 degrees.

Next, on to the steak. The recipe called for T-bone steaks, but before coming back to school my mom let me have an extra strip steak that she happened to have to take back to school. Just as good, right? I trimmed the steak as best I could, but I don't really know much about trimming steaks, so I probably did it wrong.

Giada's recipe doesn't really explain the "Florentine" aspect of this dish's name, so I turned to one of my new obsessions; The New Food Lover's Companion. It's a huge dictionary of pretty much any food or food term you could think of. This is what it said about "Florentine:"

"French for 'in the style of Florence (Italy),' and referring to dishes (usually of eggs or fish) that are presented on a bed of spinach and topped with Mornay Sauce. A 'Florentine' dish is sometimes sprinkled with cheese and browned lightly in the oven. The Italian term is alla Florentina."

This dish does not fit that description at all. First of all, this is steak, not eggs or fish. There is no spinach involved or Mornay Sauce (which is a bechamel with cheese and other creamy things). And the oven is not used to cook the steak at all.

Instead, Giada's recipe grills the steak (I used the George Foreman as usual which is quite convenient, but nothing really replaces that "cooked-on-an-actual-grill-smokey taste"). First though, I halved a clove of garlic and rubbed it on both sides of the steak, then seasoned each side with salt and pepper. I then placed the steak on the grill.

Now, the recipe calls for T-bone steak that are 1 1/4-1 1/2 inches thick. My strip steak fit that description, so I knew I could follow the cook times given in the recipes. According to Giada, you should cook the steak for five minutes per side if you want it rare, and seven minutes per side for medium-rare. I like my steak dead. Completely well-done. There was no time listed for that degree of "done-ness," so I went with about 10 minutes per side. Also unfortunate is the fact that George Foreman grills are not uniformly hot throughout the surface. One tip of the steak refused to cook at all.

Though the recipe says to flip the steak only once, I ended up flipping it about three to four times. The tips still weren't brown. I then decided to close the grill on the steak. This did speed up the cooking process a bit, but needless to say, my steak was not done cooking till about 15 minutes after I took the potatoes out of the oven and tossed them in the remaining herbs and oil.

After I gave up on getting the tips of the steak well-done, I removed it from the grill and put it on my plate. I then had to drizzle it with some fresh lemon juice and olive oil. I happened to have some fresh lemons on hand and, yes, got to use my new juicer!!!! Thank you Caitlin!

I let the steak rest five minutes before eating it so that the juices wouldn't spill out once I cut into it. As you can see in the picture, the only knives that I have (other than my big, scary ones that I use to chop stuff) are butter knives. Butter knives are not ideal for cutting steak. It was a battle to say the least.

The potatoes were DELICIOUS and soft and may have been better if they were warmer, but I didn't anticipate the steak taking so long (if this were a challenge on Cook or Be Cooked, I would have lost some points for not serving them hot). Also, the fingerling potatoes I bought were a mix of white, red and purple ones. There's something really fun about eating purple food :) The steak was also really good! Like I said, I'm not a huge steak fan, but the lemon was something I had never had on a steak before. My plate ended up looking like it always does after eating steak and that's with all the fat pushed to one side (I kind of freak out when I bite into a piece of meat and hit some grizzle, so I just don't take any chances).

And there you have it, TWO recipes, one night. Aren't you proud? I plan to finish this cycle of the book tomorrow night with a dessert recipe. Gotta love the beginning of the semester when you have a deceivingly large amount of free time!

Martin Doesn't Know. Martin Did My Taxes...

When all else fails, use a line from the most recent commercial as your title.

Hey there everyone! Before I get too much into tonight's dish, allow me to explain the above pictures. I made Individual Vegetarian Lasagnas tonight. The recipe wanted them made in individual gratin dishes with 6-inch diameters. All I had to use were these ramekins that were about 3-inches in diameter. Luckily, three and three equals six, which explains why it looks like I pigged out with tonight's meal. Also, my hand is in the picture to PROVE that these ramekins were actually that size (a point of reference if you will). Lastly, my hand is very red because I had just finished doing the dishes in some hot soapy water.

Onto the fun part! I made some marinara sauce last night to use in my lasagnas. I'm pretty sure I can make that sauce in my sleep now, and it would STILL taste good. I ended up making much more than I needed for this recipe and freezing it since future recipes will be needing some.

The first thing I did tonight for the lasagna was steam some asparagus. I had to call my mom on this one because I had never steamed anything before (I thought I would have to steam the clams in an earlier recipe, but if you can recall, I had to shuck those. That's something I only need to do once in my lifetime). I cut the asparagus into 1/4-inch thick pieces, as suggested by Giada, and steamed them in about an inch of water. Once the water was boiling, it took no time at all to cook the asparagus. I wasn't too worried if they weren't completely soft because I would be sauteing them later on. As the asparagus steamed, I drained a rinsed some cannelini beans and set them aside.

After draining my asparagus and setting it aside, I used the same pot to boil the water for my lasagna sheets. I will note here that I can now be the chef formerly known as the Queen of Improvisation. Tonight, I was the Queen of Efficiency. For making lasagna, I used hardly any dishes at all. As the water boiled, I drained one-third of a package of frozen spinach, then finely chopped one-quarter of an onion.

I'm not entirely sure how this happened considering I don't use my box of lasagna sheets as maracas or anything similar, but most of the pieces I had left were, well, pieces. I had to do some puzzle work to make up two full sheets of lasagna. A minor set back, and really who needs full sheets of lasagna when you're just going to destroy it when you eat it anyway?

As the sheets cooked, I added the onion to a heated pan sprayed with EVOO. I then drained the sheets after about four minutes, rinsed them, and covered them with a damp paper towel. I will note here that I transferred the sheets to a bowl I had used to press the water out of the spinach. This may not be interesting to you, but I am STILL impressed by my efficiency.

To the onions, I added half of a small carrot, finely chopped. Yet another side note: despite my sub-chef-quality tools (though I must say I probably have better kitchen equipment than most college students), I have become an excellent chopper. I used to struggle with cutting carrots thin enough to be considered "finely chopped," but now it just comes second-nature with hardly any effort. Just think of what I could do if I had a knife set like Guy Fieri...wouldn't that be a great birthday gift.....???

After about three minutes, I added one-quarter of a finely chopped zucchini. Giada's recipe also calls for a finely chopped yellow squash at this point in the recipe, but it's January, and summer squash is clearly not in season. Unlike summer squash, winter squash does have some WW points value and I was not willing to budge on my total for this dish.

I added the asparagus to the pan after five minutes and allowed that to saute for another two. Unlike other recipes I have completed, this one asked me to season the veggies AFTER they were cooked. Ergo, I added some salt and pepper to the pan, then removed it form the heat.

And now, the assembly!! I first put a teaspoon of marinara sauce on the bottom of each ramekin. I topped that with a lasagna sheet that was cut to fit the bottom of the dishes (actually, it was more like I solved a puzzle to cover the sauce). Next, I layered the beans, which had been tossed with some salt and pepper, and topped those with some spinach. I then placed another pasta circle on top of that along with another teaspoon of marinara sauce. Then came the veggie mixture divided equally between the dishes with another teaspoon of marinara. Finally, I topped it all off with one last pasta circle, one last teaspoon of marinara, then two tablespoons each of part-skim mozzarella.

The lasagnas went into the toaster oven for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. These ramekins were PERFECT for the toaster oven. I was thankful I didn't have to Rachael Ray my way up to the kitchen, or assemble everything then wait for the big oven to get hot once I was up there.

I must say, I absolutely LOVE this recipe. For one thing, anytime I can eat everything that's in front of me and consider it a reasonable and healthy portion size, I'm happy. Secondly, the veggies were completely cooked (obviously after they had been well sauteed), but not mushy as vegetables can get if overcooked. In case you didn't notice, this recipe didn't use any ricotta which I consider to be a staple of lasagna. I'm pretty sure the cannelini beans took its place and they were just as good. They were much different than any beans I had had before. They weren't firm anymore and became creamy in both texture and taste. Delicious!!

My second picture above was my attempt to show off the colorful filling of the lasagna despite the mess I made of the dish. That was really the only downfall, it was a little tricky to eat the lasagna out of the ramekins, but as I said before, lasagna is SUPPOSED to be messy.

Another successful dish, but my week isn't over yet! I plan to tackle TWO, yes TWO, recipes either tomorrow or Saturday. Check back to experience some Everyday Italian Throwdown history!!

This Post is Dedicated to Caitlin...

...for the sheer fact that she actually sounded mad at me when I said I hadn't posted on this in awhile. My dearest Caitlin, this post is for you!!

It definitely felt good to do some cooking tonight!! We start classes tomorrow so I didn't have anything to do today (other than run some errands and sign a lease so that I'm not homeless next semester), ergo I was antsy to start cooking. I always say that I can't eat dinner before 5 p.m. otherwise I feel like an old person trying to catch that early bird special, but I ate around 4:30 p.m. tonight. I am weak.

Tonight I made another recipe from the "Everyday Sauces" chapter in the "Everyday Tomato Sauces" section. It was a Simple Bolognese aka "meat sauce." When it comes to tomato sauces, I generally opt for marinara over meat, but I figured I may like meat sauce more if it were my own creation...and if it didn't say "Prego" or "Ragu" on its jar.

I started by cooking some minced onions and garlic until they were soft. I was only making half the recipe (some for tonight and leftovers for tomorrow) so I used one clove of garlic and half an onion. This whole plan must have slipped my mind in the next step of adding carrots and celery. I should have used half of each, but I was in some sort of daze and just added a whole one of each. I think Common's "Universal Mind Control" on mtvU had me mesmerized. Thankfully you can't go too overboard with either of those vegetables and it didn't make much of a difference. Plus it wouldn't be one of MY recipes unless something went wrong, right?

After I sauteed those over medium-high for about five minutes, I cranked the heat up to high and added some ground beef. In true health nut fashion (side note: I was the opposite of a health nut all winter break. Chocolate and Christmas cookies are my vice), I used 95/5 ground beef. I was a little afraid that this would result in some dry beef crumbles in my sauce, but this was not the case.

Next, I had to add a can of crushed tomatoes, parsley, basil, salt and pepper. I realized I didn't buy crushed tomatoes, but did have some diced ones in burgundy wine. I wasn't sure what the wine flavoring would do to the sauce, but seeing as burgundy is a dark color and I was working with some dark meat, I didn't really see a problem with it (great logic, I know). Diced versus crushed tomatoes would only make for a chunkier sauce which also didn't faze me. Being a college student without my own fresh herb garden, I used some dried basil and Italian seasoning rather than the fresh versions suggested in the recipe.

I then let all of this simmer and thicken for about 30 minutes. In the mean time, I boiled some salted water and cooked up some orecchiette to serve with the sauce. After 30 minutes, I stirred in some Parmesan cheese to the sauce as well as more salt and pepper.

As you can see from the picture, my bolognese ended up looking like some sort of Italian sloppy joe. The consistency was very chunky, but the flavor was surprisingly smooth. It wasn't overpowering and the beef wasn't dry (I think I have the tomatoes to thank for that). It was MUCH better than any jarred meat sauce I had had before (one would hope this would be the case with anything that comes in a jar).

Overall, a successful first night back in Everyday Italian! As I said before, I'll be eating leftovers tomorrow night (which will be nice seeing as tomorrow is my first day of classes), but will be making some marinara sauce to use in some future recipes. I will see you again on Thursday when I put together another "Everyday Pasta, Polenta, and Risotto!"

Back to Basics

Hello everyone!!

First off, I apologize for not keeping up with this during break. As I've said before, it actually is difficult to find time to cook while home! As much as I love to cook, I love having my mother and others (including some fantastic restaurants around here) cook for me too. It's nice not having to plan it all out every so often and just have a plate of food placed in front of you. You would understand if you've ever had my mother's cooking :)

I will be returning back to school tomorrow and plan on tackling four (yes FOUR) recipes this coming week. I didn't set a specific deadline for this project to end, so I can't say that I'm behind, but I was expecting to be a bit further than I am by this point. Finishing four recipes this week will wrap up the current cycle of the book I have started so I will finally feel a sense of closure with that (it kills me to have started with an antipasti then not cook for a week).

As for today, I just finished baking some cookies (and I must say, they may be my best batch yet. The quote I used from Julie & Julia in my last entry definitely applies to my chocolate chip cookies) and will finish packing once I find some motivation. For now I'm lounging on my big bed with my dog (see above picture) before being subjected to a single bed in a walk-in-closet-sized bedroom back at school for another five weeks. It is sooo good being home :)

That's all I've really got for now. I'm going back to my bed, my dog, and the Kooks till that motivation comes around. Maybe even some Jersey Shore....it's addicting. See you this week for more fun with Everyday Italian!

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Let's start with a quote, shall we?

"You know what I love about cooking? I love that after a day when nothing is sure and when I say nothing, I mean nothing, you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. That's such a comfort." Julie & Julia

True, seeing as it is now winter break, I did not have a rough day where "nothing is sure." I think the most I accomplished today was some cardio kickboxing and shelf assembly. And with today's recipe, I did not know what to expect at all, so I didn't "absolutely know" anything. However, I did watch Julie & Julia recently, since I got it for Christmas, and I picked out that quote because it is completely true.

I apologize for taking a week to post again, but you know how the holidays are. Filled with tons of food that probably isn't good for you (especially if you go on the Christmas cookie and candy diet...) and adding in some big Italian dishes here and there really wasn't a possibility.

I'm back to the "Everyday Antipasti" chapter of Everyday Italian and in a new section, "Everyday Frittatas." There's only two in the section (which is fortunate so I more than likely won't have to make one at school), the first being Frittata with Potato and Proscuitto.

I started off by cooking a small, chopped onion over medium-heat in our big, huge frying pan (another luxury of home). After about four minutes, I added some potato, garlic, salt and pepper. My luck with potatoes has not increased much. Think back to my potato and vegetable casserole. Yes, raw potatoes. My potatoes in my frittata did not end up completely raw since they were almost all uniformly cut, but there were a few big ones that got away and were a bit crunchy in the middle. You live and you learn.

As that cooked, I preheated the broiler and made the egg mixture. This require six eggs, but for me it required seven. As I transferred the eggs from fridge to counter in two trips, one managed to roll on the floor. That actually sounds much too nice, as if it gently moseyed on down the sides of the cabinets and found its final resting place on the kitchen floor. It crashed on the floor. For those who have ever broken an egg on a kitchen floor, you understand that this is no easy task to clean up. Luckily my mother helped me out by covering the egg with salt so it was easier to pick up (who knew?), but even when it was completely off the ground, I was paranoid that I had missed some of it and that my dog would manage to find it (because he always does) and get sick.

I whisked the eggs with some fat-free evaporated milk (a swap for heavy cream as recommended by Weight Watchers), Parmesan cheese, prosciutto, and basil till it was combined. I then poured it into the pan with the potatoes and onions. I didn't notice that the recipe said to stir the mixture into the pan, so I then had to smooth it out to make it even and to make sure the eggs wasn't too thick in any given part.

Next, I turned the heat to medium-low and covered it for about two minutes. I then took the cover off and stuck it under the broiler for about four minutes.

Like I said before, I wasn't sure what to expect with this frittata. The basil stood out more than anything else to me (which is never a bad thing) as well as the potatoes. Surprisingly, the prosciutto just blended in (I usually have a nose for things related to ham) and so did the Parmesan cheese. It was good though, but probably not something I would order at a restaurant. It was also a little thinner than most frittatas since our big, huge frying pan is a little bigger and huger than the recipe needs.

I get to cook another sauce the next time I get a chance (probably not till next Saturday, sorry!). luckily I didn't set an exact deadline for this project, but fitting cooking in while home is actually harder to do! Check back then for more :)

P.S. I had a picture to post on here, but Blogger is being uncooperative at the moment, and my patience is wearing thin...