Bad days at work inspire cooking.....

Continuing with the same bad week above, by Wednesday I was tired cranky and in no mood for anything.   I had networking drinks with an infamous Pixie that is the inspiration behind this string of blogs, and vented a little about my day, but by the time our meeting was over, my blackberry was overrunith with more things to make me MAD.   I end up texting a colleague, saying I was going home to either walk my legs off, or drink myself into a stupor.   He acually managed to talk me into shopping and cooking lunch for he and my other colleagues....   Selfish and manipulative, absolutely.  (He'll never read this anyway - but I would tell him to his face)  However, it wasn't bad advice.  I did put my running shoes on, and walk myself to the grocery store, and came home and cooked lunch for 12.   I made my sausage bean dish that I have previuosly blogged about, and it was a hit.  I made a melted ice cream cake as well, but I admit cheated with canned frosting. It was easy,yummy, and remains one of my favorite cakes.

I did the same thing again one day last week, and made a pasta dish I have invented for my colleagues again.   I roast zucchini, yellow squash, and cherry tomatoes on a roasting pan coated with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Meanwhile, I sautee fresh spinach in garlic and oil.  When it is all done, I toss the whole thing with Orichette and season more with salt, pepper and parmesan. 

The concept is a good one, I get an audience to cook for and feed myself about 3 meals out of it as well.

How food affects my life even when I don't cook...

Well, Spud went off to sleepaway camp 2 weeks ago, and my first night without him home, I had to go to a networking event that brought me home about 10PM.  It was mt first day back from vacation and I had a bad day at work.  The network event served food, but not much, and if you didn't storm the table, you were out of luck.  I was raised to always wait until everyone had food and not be the first to serve yourself,  so needless to say I was out of luck.  On my way home, sadness set in that no one knew where I was or cared, - classic self pity.  When I got home I decided to make a lean cusine - my favorite one, if one can actually have a favorite diet frozen food, the chicken Marsala.  I poured myself half a glass of wine and walked upstairs to sit in sanctuary of my terrace.  As I got to the top of my steps, the lean cuisine was balanced on my wine glass and at the top of the stairs slid off, upside down on the floor.  That was all I could handle, and it ensued to a hysterical meltown of epic proportions....  It wasn't funny at all at he time, but it will be a story I will tell for years to come.   And given the power of facebook and the cell phone, a very good friend checked on me and made sure i was still breathing, and for that I will always be grateful for those that care the most. 

The story continues in less tragedy the following night, as I worked late yet again...  Here I pride myself on being into really great food and a great cook, but I have to admit, between being a mom that will indulge an 11 year old once in a while, and that I have my own secrets of poor taste-  on occasion I keep Chef Boy-r-dee in the house ( for Spud :) - but I admit it is a yearly guilty pleasure of my own.  Not to mention - its easy, thoughtless, and cooks in the microwave in 2 minutes.   So at least I got to eat that night, - and it went pretty well with a cheap Merlot...  I chalk it up to the things that just work in real life...

Artichokes! - An accomplishment!

I am very proud of myself.  I watched an online video of how to prepare an artichoke and cooked them last night.   I sliced them and snipped them like they said and drizzed olive oil and sea salt on them, wrapped them in aluminum foil and baked them at 425 for an hour!   The were cooked perfectly and delicious just like that.   I was very excited how they turned out.  Tonight when I got home, I pulled them apart and used the hearts in a dish of Chicken and artichoke hearts.  The chicken was cooked with onions, roasted red peppers, white wine and chicken broth.  Then it was served over orzo that was mixed with olive oil and the artichokes.   It was delicious!   The only thing was that the recipe called for fresh dill and I used Rosemary instead.   I should have just have left out the herbs altogether and thrown on some parmesan. Spud picked out this recipe from Everyday with Rachel Ray a couple of weeks ago, but he hated it and wouldn't finish it.   I myself thought it was wonderful and can't wait to eat the rest fo lunch tomorrow.  I will have to let the discerning pallates at work give it a taste and tell me what they think.   Tomorrow is baseball night, so it will be dinner out. Spud has been in Culinary Club in school this half year ( are you surprised?) and he is planning to cook for me.   Stay tuned!!!   I am also hoping to hook up with my friend Adrienne again, and maybe put together another amazing meal! 

Motivation???!!!

    Well I guess my life is getting back on track - I have moved an starting to get a handle on life as a single parent,  and getting through the grief.   My passion to cook does not sit right with being a single parent.  Spud is a great eater thank goodness, but he my worst critic.   I miss having someone to cook for who is my biggest fan.  
     Over the weekend, I had some reasons to cook.  I was scheduled to bring food to church, and it was a holiday weekend, so I thought - picnic food!   What is relatively easy and inexpensive to make for a crowd?- Potato Salad!    I invented my own recipe.  I boiled up some red skin potatoes withthe skins on.   When they were done and cool I mixed in Fat free plain yogurt and just enough sour cream to add the flavor.   Then for seasoning, I stirred in a package of Dilly Dip mix that I buy every year at my local Hoboken Art and Music Festival from my friends at Country Herbs.  Country Herbs makes some great dip mixes.  I keep a bunch of packages in my freezer and it keeeps forever and can be used many different creative ways. It was a perfect way to season my Potato Salad - and so easy!
     I brought it to church, shared with my in-laws and fed my office today.
     I was supposed to make Fried Chicken to have with it on Sunday, but my mother-in-law made such a fabulous late lunch ( Shrimp and snow crablegs, and ribs and sliders and salad - and lets not forget the Carvel Ice Cream cake! :- YUM)  that it made so sense to come home and cook.   So since the chicken spent 2 days bathing in butermilk and onions, I had to make it yesterday.   There was enough for a crowd and again it fed my office today.  It is Claritha's Fried Chicken from Gourmet - page 368.  This is one of the first things I ever cooked from my bible - and it was what sold me on the book!   The secret is definitely in the buttermilk and onion.  It is such a simple recipe.
     So after making a pasta dish I am embarrassed to admit I cooked,  tonight I watched a video and learned how to prep an artichoke and now I have it baking at 425 for an hour.   I plan to use it tomorow in a dish.   I'll keep you updated on how it turns out.   Many thanks to my sister-in-law who just helped me realize that at least someone was reading this and kick me back to blogging.   I really enjoy it and need to find the time to spend on it..  I'll write tomorrow to follow up on the artichokes.

2 meals in 2 days!

I guess I am on a roll. I have cooked 2 days in a row!  Last weekend I took the Spud on a shopping eating Saturday night date.  We went to the Japanese grocery store not too far from our house called Mitsua.   I needed to stock up on my asian basics like sesame oil, rice wine, oyster sauce, hoison sauce, ginger, etc.   We also managed to buy udon noodles, sesame noodles, and fresh ramen noodles.  Spud loves asian food more than anything.  There are not many 11 year olds that would eat eel sushi, salmon eggs and seaweed salad over mac and cheese any day of the week, so I try to encourage this in every way I can.  Our highlight of the evening was the dessert.  First we had grilled Mochi Balls with sweet Miso sauce, and then Spud had green tea mochi filled with red bean filling, like a sweet japanese empanada. 

So tonight I made use of my purchases.  I made Chinese pan-freid noodles with chicken.   I pan fried the fresh ramen noodles, and stir fried chicken marinated in a sauce made from soy, rice wine, sesame oil, salt, pepper, sugar .  I cooked it in fresh minced ginger and garlic, and then added a sauce of similar ingredients and green beans and scallions.  Should have added water chestnuts and bamboo shoots, but I don't like them.   I love my Chinese cook book Chinese Kitchen by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo.  We ate it with our new chopsticks.  We bought a pack of 100 disposable wood chopsticks last week too.  The meal was a huge hit for Spud and now he has lunch tomorrow.

It's a busy week, so probably not much cooking going on, but stay tuned for next week when I have another guest chef cooking with me, and another special meal in the works.

Italian with Old friends

  Many people collect many different things, and have a few collections myself.  I collect some coins, piggy banks, cd's, dvd's,  my favorite is my cookie jars, but my most treasured collection is my friends that I have been blessed to have through the years.   I have been very lucky to keep so many with me which is why it is a collection.  I am in touch with friends as far back as the 4th Grade in 1978. I even recently got a note from a friend who went through school with me from nursery school in 1973.  I am still close to my friend from the 5th Grade, and then my next oldest that I am close to is a group of 3 friends, We'll call them Bonzo, Yak and Adrienne.  Those are nicknames you will find referenced on our High School yearbook pages.  
  So 28 years later, Adrienne and I have both been through some pretty major life changes recently and we got together yesterday in the solidarity of friendship to cook.  We share the same passion and both find that we can lose ourselves in our kitchens and yesterday we got lost together.  Adrienne happens to be going to cooking school right now, so we pooled our cooking talents and made a fabulous meal.   I made my cheese ravioli  (from the Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken) for her and she made me the best sauce I ever had.   I had a lot of trouble with my usually perfect dough yesterday.  I think I must have miscounted my flour cups and used too much, and my dough was very dry and hard to work with.  Thankfully by the time it was cooked, it was still delicious.  The ricotta filling was creamy and Adrienne's fresh nutmeg was just the perfect touch.  Adrienne's sauce was just amazing.  She starts with a pork rib base for flavor and adds tomato puree, bouquet garni, and veal stock.  It makes for wonderful rich flavor that was a perfect accompaniment to the ravoli.  I made the Spinach Torta Alla Hoboken as a side dish, we added some good wine and we had a wonderful day and meal.   Along the way we munched on delicious crusty bread with Irish butter, black truffle butter, burrata ( very creamy mozzerella made from water buffalo milk and cream) , Proscesso sparkling wine, and chocolate.   Our boys had a great time together and liked our food, so a good day was had by all.
  

Birthday Celebration

My mother-in-law has a passion for tomatoes.   She is stick thin and likes food, but is lucky enough to be someone who is not the least bit food-focused.  She enjoys it and a a plesure to cook for, but planning meals is sometimes tricky.  She is not a big meat eater, and her husband, loves meat and is particular about trying new things.  That said, last night's meal to celebrate her birthday was focused on tomatoes.  I was buying dinner for spud the the local gourmet grocery on Friday and saw the most beautiful gourmet tomatoes you ever saw.  Green and Yellow and Orange.  When you cut up the green heirloom tomatoes they were the most beautiful swirl of green and red.   I thought what better thing to make someone who loves tomatoes than a tomato salad?  It was a simple dish, of these georgeous tomatoes with salt, pepper and olive oil. Delicious.
So that was my side dish.

I have blogged about my homemade pasta, but one of the other things I first learned from my mother early on was the art of homemade pizza.   It has taken years of work and gone though many iterations, but I finally found the solution.   A good crust recipe is the start but it's all in the pan.   Good crust recipes I have found are Wolfgang Puck and also the mystery writer Patricia Cornwell.  Particia Cornwell writes alot about food and cooking  around her otherwise somewhat greusome medical examiner mysteries.  She compliled everything she wrote about into a cookbook - Food to Die for - and has many nice recipes.  Pizza is one of her specialies.   So last night I used her crust recipe ( secret is in the honey) and then added olive oil,  prosciutto di parma, a blend of good mozzerella cheeses from my Lisa's deli, caramelized garlic onions and fresh plum tomato.  The Calphlon baking pan makes the crust perfect somehow.  And I found this out by accident when I left my pizza pan at a friends for a year, and needed a substitute pan.   The pizza gets crisp and holds its shape.

I started the meal with baked stuffed tomatoes.  Large beefsteak tomatoes, stuffed with breadcrumbs. olive oil parmesan and basil.  Baked until browned, they just melt in your mouth.

We finished the meal with chocolate pots ( so easy!) and ricotta creme. 
It felt great too cook again, and now I have to go to the task of finishing to clean.

More on my superbowl gathering tonight!

Blog Update

 I have been away from my blog for quite a while.  To any of you who read and know me, you undestand why.  If by some chance I am blessed enough to have anyone read this who doesn't know me personally,  I need to explain.   My sweetheart, Coco was quite ill for sometime, and actually began to decline right around the time I began this blog, although I didn't know it at the time, or at least was in denial about it. He got progressively worse through Thanksgiving, and even though I cooked a full meal and for 8 people for the holiday, my heart just wasn't in the blog to update you.  Coco entered the hospital on December 1 and passed away on January 8.   I haven't cooked much since, and have actually lost 20 pounds through the ordeal because my focus left food.   Amazingly,  food still played  a role through the process.  Friends delivered meals.  Friends and family cooked for Spud and I.  Never did we eat so much chicken! People shopped for us.  Coco only seemed to have the will to eat and we brought him as many of his favorites as we could.  We kept his Christmas Eve traditional meal of crab legs, we brought him Booberry and chocolate ice cream and iced coffee.  Spud and I went out with friends for New Years Eve for Sushi.  Human nature is to feed people through tough times.  I guess it is the one thing we feel we can control.  Foodwas delivered to my home in droves in the days following.  I fed the homeless of hoboken for 2 days and am still eating our way through the freezer full.  

Admittedly , I am having a problem with food now.  Food was a commonality for Coco and me.  It was him I cooked for. We loved to eat out together.  I cook becuase I love it, but also for my ego.  I know I do it well  and like to have it appreciated.  As much as Spud loves food,  his taste is not as discriminating, or maybe too much so, and he is my biggest crtic.   Either way it isn't the same.   I know that whatever people are in my life as I move foward, I need them to appreciate food and help me find the joy in it again.

As I return to this blog, like my life right now, I cannot predict what it will be like, but hopefully those reading this will follow the joruney with me and see where this experiment if self exploration continues to take me.   I have re-entered the kitchen a few times this month and returned to the grocery store yesterday with only Spud, and no other friends or family, and even paid the grocery bill myself for the first time.  I held my head high and got through it like nothing had changed. 

I miss Coco with all my heart, but I am also eager to move along and get back to life, to move on and continue to make him proud of me for being strong especially on the days it is so hard, like today.  

As I write this morning I am remincisent of the Sunday morning in August that I began this blog, which I think is what made me log in to begin with - a lazy Sunday that I am procrastinating the tasks and events at hand.  It is hard to believe that it was almost 6 months ago.   It seems like a blink in so many ways yet everything has changed.  Hopefully food will remain the joyful comforting constant that it has always been for me and I can find others to be proud of me for my passion.

This blog remains dedicated to Coco, who will be forever with me everytime I run out of something in the kitchen mid-recipe.

Self Discovery

I have learned one thing over the last few weeks, and that it that I am definately blogging to cook not cooking to blog.   As I stated at the beginning of this project, I am not a writer.   I enjoy writing if I am bestowed the time to to do this , but with no time or real motivation it's much harder than I expected.  I have been cooking through my absence from blogging however.  The food part is the passion, so I haven't given up on that.  My intent was to sit here on day an catch up on everything I have cooked in the last few weeks, but that would only be hum drum for you to read if it's posted that way.  So that said , here I go on today's food and hopefully I will catch up along the way.

Today the freezer yielded some fresh Chorizo and I planned this meal out with my colleagues this afternoon.  I decided to give a twist to a Garlicky Bean Burrito recipe from Everyday magazine.  I started by cooking the crumbled chorizo and garlic in olive oil, and then I added the white beans and chicken broth and cooked until the means were mashed and heated through.  This filling then gets added to either flour or corn tortillas and then lay the rolls in a baking dish, pour a bottle of Salsa verde over the top and then top with your favorite mexican or spanish cheese ( tonight I used cheddar, but pepper jack or manchego would be great!)

My office is having a family game tonight tomorrow and I decided to make some desserts tonight.  I went back to my baking bible - The Great American Bake Sale.   I made the Great American Brownie, which is pretty much a basic classic brownie, pretty similar to the Katharine Hepburn Brownie I have previously made.  I also baked another favorite, Toffee Turtle Bars, as I know my friend Papo is a caramel fan .  I changed up this recipe and left out the nuts, and the chocolate topping, and I made more caramel for the topping.  Instead of toffee bars, they turned out like yummy chewy carmel bars.  Hopefully everyone will enjoy and a fun time will be had by all!

In the meantime, if anyone who wants to pay me to write about food so I can find more time to do this, feel free to let me know and help me get discovered!  I am thinking I might love test kitchen work.

Saturday Night Sushi Tour

    Tomorrow is Spud's 11th Birthday!  Some months ago as we were wandering Chelsea Market he overheard someone giving a tour of the market.  We asked about that tour and upon inquiring we found out about a sushi "tour".  http://www.foodsofny.com/artofsushi.php   Spud wanted to do this desperately and I gave him the choice to this instead of a birthday party, and he jumped all over it.  I was thrilled to not have to give a kid party.  This tour was actaully a sit down tasting dinner at Ariyoshi Japanese Restaurant, located at 810 Broadway (between 10th and 11th Streets), New York, NY.
    It was a multi-course dinner done in two parts. The first part was a Japanese Tapas tasting. The second half was a sushi tasting. Sadly I forgot to take the menu, so heere is my best description of what we were served.

PART ONE
Course one: ( Served with Ichiban beer)
Fried chicken in Ponzi Sauce
Asparagus wrapped in Bacon in Ponzi Sauce
Seared Beef in Ponzi Sauce
Salmon & Yam wrapped in radish
Grilled Freshwater Eel

This portion of the meal focused on Ponzi sauces and the key ingredients and how different they can be just by changing the proportions of the ingredients. 

Course two:
Miso Soup with Crab Yam dumpling

This was like Japanese Matzo Ball Soup, with a delicious rich miso broth, and a very tasty light dumpling

Course three:
Grilled Tofu served with 2 different kinds of miso sauces

This also focused on Miso and how many differnt types and flavors they can be. This didn't make me a lover of tofu still, but the miso sauces are so very good, and very different from each other.

PART TWO - Served with 2 sakes - One was sweet and served cold, the second was drier and served warm
Course four
Sashimi tasting: Red Snapper, Horse Mackerel, Yellow Tail

Course five
Sushi Rice, Salmon, Fluke and Eel Sushi

Course six
Blue Fin Toro Scallion Maki

The sushi courses focused on quality of sushi rice, chopstick etiquette, Real vs. fake Wasabi, and fresh vs. frozen fish. (it is illegal in the U.S. to serve fish that has not been frozen), and Nori ( the seaweed that wraps the rolls)

Course seven
Dessert which consisted of Green tea infused rice dish, made into something like large tapioca pearls. 

This was a very different flavor, but nice and light and a very nice green tea flavor.

I highly recommend this dinner as a great introduction to Japanese cooking, and some insigh to the culture as well.  Our host/guide for the evening was highly knowledgeable and very personable to be around, and the food was wonderful. Spud had a wonderful time and ate every last bite!

Momufuku Ssam Bar

   Wednesday evening I abandoned Coco and Spud to join my friend Carmy for dinner in nyc at the Momufuku Ssam Bar.  A facebook friend had recently posted how much she enjoyed this restaurant, so I used this evening out and as excuse to try it.  The restaurant is located at  207 2nd Ave. nyc 10003 corner of 13th St and 2nd Ave. It is a small restaurant with a long counter where you sit on wood backless stools opposite your guest.  You get pretty packed in next to your neighbors.  If you like to listen to other people's conversations, this is the place to do so.  Our fellow dinner companions got quite an earful of my life that evening!  This is not a comfy cozy place, but it is well worth the food! They leave piles of napkins on the table and chopsticks standing up in holders.  Think cross between a bar, restaurant, and a malt shop!
It was a perfect selection for sharing and sharing we did. Our menu was as follows:

steamed pork buns – hoisin, cucumbers, scallions
( a yummy update on the chinese classic)
cracked jonah crab claws – harissa mayo 
(seved cold on ice, and they were perfect)
bev eggleston's pork shoulder steak – japanese eggplant, hericot vert, watercress
( an interesting cut and innovative way to serve pork)
long island crescent duck – lobster mushroom, daikon, orange
(cripsy and delicious, with a lovely side of duck confit along side the sliced duck)
pb&j – concord grape, peanut butter nougat, ritz craker
( tasted just like a PB&J sandwich, but with a twist - more to come on this)

We had a nice bottle of Pinot Noir with it anad it was a lovely meal!  the PB&J was amazing and watch for a blog soon to come where I will tell you about my attempt to recreate it!

Another find we came across was Wine Wednesday's at Metrazur on the balcony at Grand Central. On Wine Wednesday we got a bottle of wine for $15! It was a Merlot, and I couldn't tell you what it was, but for $15 in Manhattan, who cares?  We sat right at the railing overlooking the clock in Grand Central, and it is just a great place to people watch.  When you have an evening out like this with your best friend, it doesn't get much better!

2 Meals from Last Week

So I have gotten a little lazy about blogging - I apologize to my public! :) Last week I managed to squeek out 2 nights of meals.  


      Monday I made Chicken Divan, page 358.  It calls for Broccoli, but as that is my least favorite veggie, I made the dish with string beans.  It is an incredibly rich meal, but the sherry flavor added to the cream sauce just make Divan, divine. ( I know - so bad, but it had to be said).  This meal is rich enough and the vegetable is included, so this meal stands alone just fine. I good glass of white wine would be a lovely accompaniment however.


    Tuesday night I prepared the Veal Marsala, page 457.  This is a nice easy dish for a week night, and could easily be included into a busy schedule normal routine.  It goes nicely over noodles, and can be served nicely with any green vegetable.  I served it with some spinach on the side. 


   Speaking of easy weeknight meals, as I was catching up on my Gourmet magazines, (RIP) I saw an ad for the NEW Gourmet cookbook.  Ruth came up with another 1200 recipes for the more modern cook.  I guess they realized that the cookbook I am working from, although amazing, doesn't always fit into the lives of us working busy wives and mothers.  I have to, of course, own this new book, so I warn now, this blog could change into the Garden State NEW Gourmet cookbook venture!  We will have to see. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!  Ruth also recently began a PBS show called Gourmet's Adventures with Ruth.  Unfortunately I haven't been able to catch it yet,  I noticed 2 of her first guests were Dianne Weist and Tom Skeritt.  If anyone has seeen it yet, please comment in! 

Self Invented Chorizo Recipe

Coco has been home and not feeling so well.  Today he took out some fresh Chorizo I had bought, and the recipes I was saving it for needed ingredients I didn't have, so I made up my own recipe as follows:

Plain White Spanish Rice - Cooked according to package directions.
2 tablespoons Olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 Onion finely chopped
3 links Fresh Chorizo
1/2 bottle or can of beer
1 can Red Beans drained and rinsed
1 can Black beans drained and rinsed
1 Can Diced Fired Roasted tomatoes, drained
Salt, Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Chili Powder, and Cayenne Pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil and saute the onions and garlic until soft and onion has sweetened.  Cut off sausage casing and crumble chorizo into the pan and cook until browned.  When well cooked, Pour 1/2 bottle of beer over and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. ( Be sure to unwind and drink the other half while you cook) Add the beans and tomatoes, use seasonings to taste and heat until very hot.  Serve in pasta bowls over the Cooked white rice.

Waffle Sunday

    Saturday morning, Spud asked if he could make waffles, and I was eager to answer yes, and then promptly realized that we had so little in the house we were lacking milk and eggs, thus no waffles. ( we sadly didn't even have bread for toast)  Spud ended up eating soup, and I made pasta with garlic oil and cheese for breakfast.  A trip to the store on Saturday, yielded the proper ingredients, so after oversleeping Sunday following 2 nights of partying, I gave the Spud the recipe to make the waffles.
     We actually did have buttermilk, so we were able to make Buttermilk Waffles, page 653.  Spud actually made these himself, I just had to guide him through the recipe though as we decided to half it as this recipe as is yields 24 waffles!  They were completely yummy.  I whipped up some fresh heavy cream flavored with my newly acquired Dominican Vanilla ( very strong!) courtesy of my colleague, Papo, and it made for the perfect topping for these waffles.
   

Light Cooking Week

I only managed to cook one meal home last week (10/7), and it was a very simple dinner.  Pork Chops with Mustard Crumbs, page 482, brought me back to the Gourmet Cookbook. These are basic breaded pork chops, but with the added twist of rye crumbs over a mustard coating. It was quite tasty.  I admit I cheated my side dishes this evening with frozen Cauliflower, and (GASP) instant mashed potatoes.  I invented my own pan pork gravy though from the pan juices form the pork, so this helped to disguise the use of powdered potatoes.

Backing up to 10/3/09 - Classic Hoboken food!

    Wow, I have been behind on cooking and definately on blogging.  I need to back up and talk about one of my favortie meals I make, and the success and disaster that went with it. 
     Last Saturday 10/3, I had a group of friends travel to NJ to attend the Springsteen concert, and as I was initially invited to go with them, I definitely owed them dinner.  I figured what better way to repay a friend and enteratin old friends then by cooking them an awesome meal?  ( I hope they though it was awesome) This meal although one of may very favorites has not one recipe from the Gourmet Cookbook.
     I started by going to my favorite bread Bakery - the Antique Bakery also here in Hoboken.  ( In case I haven't mentioned it - we have some of the best food resources anywhere!) My personal favorite from Antique is their stuffed breads - They make Sausage and Pepper, Pepperoni and Cheese and Prosiutto and cheese. I bought a loaf each of the Sausage and Pepper and the Prosiutto and Cheese.  These make wonderful appetizers/table snacks.  Also to give the ultimate Hoboken dining experience, I served the bread with some of our finest Fresh Mozzerella from Lisa's Deli.   (or Mutz as we call it here)
     As a first course I served a basic Italian salad of mixed greens with oil and vinegar.  This salad is so simple, chopped or torn lettuce of your choice ( I prefer a mix of red leaf and iceberg) I generously salt and pepper the lettuce and let it sit for a few minutes.  I also like lettuce sligtly chilled so I serve it not too long after I take it from the refrigerator.  After the salt has had time to dissolve on the lettuce, I add extra virgin olive oil and toss with my hands until fully coated and enoucgh to make the lettuice shiny.  Then I add just a drizzle of red wine vinegar, but of course you can add this to taste.  I happen to like it as plain lettuce, but you could add any normal salad additions here. ( Onions, olives, tomatoes and parmesan are good Italian additions).
     As a main course I made homemade ravioli.  I used the Basic Pasta recipe I always use from the Joy of Pasta, but for my filling I used Adalgiza and Tessie's Ravoli Filling from where else, but The Lost Ravoli Recipes of Hoboken.  This is a meat filling that is fairly rich made from cream cheese, spinach, parmesan, veal and pork.  It is a very easy filling as well as it is not actually precooked prior to be put inside the ravoli.   this recipe is the basis for an entire memoir on one woman's search for the orgins of this recipe. With this dish, I served my mother's classic Bresciole recipe.   This dish is like little Italian pot roasts and cooks down into very tender and tasty meat, and the sauce with it compliments the ravoli well. As usual Joe the butcher, didn't let me down when I ordered my meat. I don't even know what cut of beef this is - I call Joe and say I need 14 pieces of bresciole meat.  Please feel free to post comments and I can further post the recipe if anyone is interested.  As my side dish from the same book, I also made Spinach Torta alla Hoboken. This is a delicious Spinach, egg and cheese dish - sort of like an Italian crustless quiche. This meal is best served with a good Italian Chianti, which I bought but my dinner guest was kind enough to also bring a bottle that was perfect with the meal.
       My dessert wasn't as good an effort. I was attempting an Epicurioius recipe I found for Chocolate Ravoli  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Ravioli-in-Bittersweet-Chocolate-Sauce-231566    The filling was a great success and I ended up serving it like a custard in a dish.  The pasta for this I didn't not have luck getting the dough to a workable consistency.  It was tasty, but I just couldn't make its work.  I also adjusted the sauce and made it with white chocolate instead of dark to offer the contrast to the custard.
       I hope my guests enjoyed the meal as much as I did cooking it ( and eating it)  I will have to keep practicing with that chocolate pasta dough.

Pasta Dinner

Last night Spud was begging for pasta to go with the re-directed turkey, so I figured I would accomodate tonight.  I admit I am exhausted after not sleeping to well last night, so this blog will probably not do this dish justice, but it was delicious.  The Pasta with Bolognese Sauce, page 221 did not dissappoint.  Bolognese is one of my favorite dishes, and somehow I have never made this one, and it is the best I have had.   It contains every element that any other bologneses usually only use part of.  This one has the carrots, celery and onion, the milk and white wine to go with the tomatoes.   It uses ground meatloaf mix instead of whole pieces of meat.  It is a nice easy recipe and will definately be a regular in my food repetoire.

Re-directed Dinner

     Last night I set out to make Chicken Divan, I asked Coco to take the chicken out of the freezer.  When I got home, the recipe was more involved than I felt like making, so I decided to do a change over to an easier Rachel Ray Recipe from Everyday magazine.  I decided to use her Chicken Fried Steak recipe and changed it to Chicken Fried Chicken.  The only problem was that when I opened  the package Coco took out, I realized he took out the Turkey cutlets, so dinner became Chicken Fried Turkey.   This recipe makes a really nice pan gravy to go with it.  I further cheated this meal with frozen green beans and instant mashed potatoes, but it was like eating a homemade tv dinner.   The dish turned out pretty well with the turkey substitution.

Sunday Night Supper

After overeating yesterday and travelling today with a late lunch ( dare I admit fastfood at a rest area!) we decided to eat a little later this evening and a little lighter.  Spud requested brussel sprouts for dinner, probably one of the few 10 year olds in America who's favorite vegetable is brussel sprouts.  I ran to the store for a mini-shopping trip, and the local grocery just didn't have them.  I am not sure what the season of a brussel sprout is.  So as a second choice I bought Swiss Chard to make Swiss Chard Gratin, page 543.  Spud didn't like it, said it reminded him of Spinach Souffle, and he has declared that eggs should never be with spinach.  This dish has no eggs in it though, and was quite good.  It actually calls to make it with spinach too, but I just made it with all Swiss Chard.  It was really more like a more complex version of creamed spinach.  I liked the touch of chicken stock in with the cream, it adds a more intersted flavor.  I think I will try this with creamed spinach in the future as well. Of course the best part is the cheesy, breadcrumb topping that bakes and get crispy.  I made this side with Veal Scallops with Lemon and Capers, page 456.  I love this dish as it is so light and easy and full of flavor.  I admit that I hate capers though, and I leave them out when I make this dish.

Desserts to Tailgate with

    I had been planning a tailgate football party with friends for a while now and I had had dreams of cooking all this amazing tailgate food, but life just got in the way.  Thank goodness for friends who are fellow foodies, because my friend, Carmelita jumped in and did everything for an amazing tailgate.  We had Hebrew Nat's, Beef Burgers, Turkey Burgers, Italian Sausage, peppers and onions and all the fixins.  Everyone brought amazing sides and we were overkilled on the desserts.  One of my friends made amazing butterscotch bars and delicious cheesecake squares.  I never had a chance with her caramel brownies, they were gone instantly.   We had no shortage of brownies, but is there really such a thing as too many brownies?  I made Katharine Hepburn's Brownies, page 688 which I have made before as they are famous and have been published by a few cookbook authors.  These are the best classic brownies, a perfect blend of fudgy & cakey.   I also made the Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies, page 674 and I am pretty sure these were perfect Peanut Butter Cookies.  I always slightly overbake my bottom oven rack, but the top rack came out perfectly.  This is an unbelieveably easy reciped also as it is only 4 ingredients.  There is no excuse with this receipe for anyone to say they don't have time or can't bake.  This is a recipe that busy mom's should keep on hand to use as lunchbox or afterschool snacks.  Both these desserts stay fresh for a few days and traveled well in Tupperware containers.
     Our tailgate party was a huge success, but sadly our game got rained on and only the die hard  fans went to the game.  I personally only go to the game for the party, so I stayed dry.