May 16th, 2010
I’d been craving an apple dessert for a few days, spotted a recipe for a fresh fruit crostata and decided to give it a try. Crostata is a rustic Italian dessert tart, baked free-form (without a pie or tart pan). The marriage of sweet, savory, spice and butter flavors in an apple crostata are a party in one’s mouth. We all stood in my kitchen, speechless as we finished the last bite. So simple and delicious. Here’s my version of the Apple Crostata. Enjoy!
Fresh Apple Crostata
Dough:
1 cup all purpose flour
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
¼ tsp kosher salt
½ cup (1 stick) butter, very cold, diced
1 Tbsp ice water
Extra flour, as needed for rolling
Apple filling:
3 ea large apples, mixture of tart and sweet (I used 2 Granny Smith and 1 Fuji)
¼ tsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon, ground
Topping:
¼ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp cinnamon, ground
1/8 tsp nutmeg, ground
¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter, diced, very cold
For the dough, sift flour and sugar into a bowl. Add salt. Cut in diced butter, working with hands or pastry cutter. Mix until the butter resembles small peas. Drizzle in cold water and combine with hands until dough sticks together, ensuring not to overwork it. Turn out of bowl onto lightly floured surface. Form into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
For the filling, peel, core and cut apples into 8ths. Cut each wedge into 3 chunks. Toss the chunks with lemon zest, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
For the topping, combine flour, sugar, salt cinnamon, nutmeg and cut in diced butter. Rub with fingers until starts to hold together. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly flour rolling surface and rolling pin. Roll dough into 11-inch circle, turning a quarter turn after each roll and lightly adding flour as needed, to keep dough from sticking to surface. Transfer to a baking sheet. Cover the tart dough with apple filling, leaving a 2 inch border around the edges. Sprinkle prepared topping evenly over the apples. Fold the border over the apples to enclose the dough, pleating it to make a circle. Bake for 20 minutes, until crust is golden and apples are just tender. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm, with vanilla ice cream.
Tags: apple, cinnamon, crostata, delicious dessert, dessert, homemade dessert, Italian dessert, pie, pie dough, tart
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October 1st, 2009
Hey, it’s Fall! (Fall, Fall, I love the Fall!!) Do you have a Crock Pot or slow cooker? Below is a simple recipe for Slow Cooked Pork Roast. You can serve it in bite-sized pieces over rice pilaf, along with the cooking liquid (jus) or use it to make Pulled Pork Sandwiches. Leftover meat makes tasty Pork Burritos. Yum!
Slow Cooked Pork Roast
Serves 4-6
3 lb pork roast (I use butt shoulder)
Salt & pepper, to taste
1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup Coca Cola, regular (do not use diet)
Place pork in slow cooker. Season all sides of pork with salt, black pepper and soup mix. Add tomato paste and pour cup of cola over pork. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until pork falls apart easily when you pick it up with utensil. (Meat may still look pink, but as long as it falls apart, it’s fully cooked. If you have a meat thermometer, it should register at 165 degrees in the center of the roast.) Remove meat from slow cooker and set aside, keeping warm. Pour liquid into separate bowl and let cool for a bit. Skim fat off the top and rewarm liquid to use as a sauce for the meat.
Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Prepare as above. Shred cooked meat with two forks. Serve over sandwich buns, with coleslaw or your favorite type of salad. Use the jus from the cooking liquid for dipping.
Tags: coca cola pork, coke pork, crock pot, easy recipe, pilaf, pork, pork burrito, pulled pork, roast pork, sandwich, simple pork recipe, simple recipe, slow cooked pork, slow cooker
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April 18th, 2009
Watching your calories? On a budget? Short on time? Try these great salad recipes. Not too many ingredients. Fresh. Healthy. Fast and TASTY!
Avocado Salad
Serves 2
1 ea avocado
3 ea slices of white onion
Splash of White Wine Vinegar
Salt & Pepper, as needed
Cut avocado in half and remove pit (seed). Cut pitted avocado into slices or large dice. Arrange on a plate. Separate onion slices and layer on top of avocado. Splash a little white wine vinegar on top and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Caprese Salad
Serves 2
¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive oil
Salt & Pepper, as needed
2 ea tomatoes, sliced
8 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced
1 bunch fresh basil
Rinse basil and dry with paper towel. Remove one of the big leafy sprigs and reserve for garnish. Remove remaining leaves from stem and slice leaves diagonally into thin, long strips (chiffonade). Whisk olive oil and salt and pepper in a bowl. Dip tomato and cheese slices into olive oil dressing and arrange alternately on a platter. Sprinkle basil chiffonade over the platter. Garnish center with big leafy basil sprig.
For flavor variety, can also add some minced garlic or red wine vinegar to the olive oil dressing.
Mixed Green Salad with Oranges Supreme and Champagne Vinaigrette
Serves 2-4
½ lb organic Mesclun Mix lettuce
1 ea green leaf lettuce head, cored
1 ea orange, peeled and sliced at sections
Rinse lettuce and drain well. Tear green leaf lettuce into bite sized pieces. Combine in bowl with most of the orange segments, reserving some segments on the side for garnish. Drizzle about 1/8 to a ¼ cup of dressing over salad and toss. Taste lettuce and adjust seasoning with more dressing and salt if necessary. Garnish with reserved orange segments and serve.
Feel free to substitute your favorite lettuce for this salad. You can also use packaged organic lettuce to save time. Just be sure to rinse any lettuce that has not been pre-washed.
Champagne Vinaigrette
Makes 1/2 cup
1 oz. champagne vinegar
1 slice of white onion, chopped
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper, as needed
3 oz. olive oil
Combine vinegar, onion, mustard, salt and pepper. Whisk in olive oil until well blended. Can serve immediately, but best when you allow flavors to come together by letting sit for 30 minutes or more. Store in container with lid and shake well to blend before each use. Keep refrigerated – will last for 1-2 weeks.
Tags: avocado, caprese salad, champagne vinaigrette, champagne vinegar, cheap healthy recipes, cheap nutritious recipes, easy recipe, easy recipes, fast easy italian recipes, fast easy recipes, green leaf lettuce, healthy recipes, low calorie and vegetarian recipes, low calorie recipes, mesclun, oranges, organic, organic food, quick and cheap recipes, quick recipes, recipes to help you lose weight fast, salad, salad dressing recipes, salad recipes, simple salad recipes, vinaigrette, vinaigrette recipes, vinegar
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April 16th, 2009
Saltimbocca is an Italian term that is literally translated as “jump mouth”. It refers to a dish made of thinly sliced meat (usually veal), flavored with sage and Prosciutto. It’s sautéed and braised in wine sauce. In the recipe below, I use chicken, because it’s cheaper and easier to find in the store. I love this dish served with Orzo pilaf (recipe below). It’s simple, yet no one will know you hadn’t worked on it for hours.
Orzo is a small rice-shaped pasta. Preparing it pilaf-style gives it an almost nutty flavor. I like to plate a small mound of orzo underneath whichever protein I’m going to serve. In this case, Chicken Saltimbocca. The sauce from the Saltimbocca flavors the delicate orzo quite nicely. Buon appetito!
Chicken Saltimbocca
Yield: Serves 2
a/n Salt & Black Pepper
2 ea Chicken Breast Cutlets, pounded thinly
¼ cup AP Flour
2 ea Whole Sage Leaves
2 ea Slices Prosciutto
a/n Olive oil
¾ cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp Butter
a/n Minced Sage Leaves
Chicken: Season chicken breasts with salt & pepper. Place a sage leaf on chicken and cover with slice of Prosciutto, roll chicken like a jelly roll (can use toothpicks to keep shape). Heat pan with oil until hot. Lightly coat chicken with flour and place in pan. Cook until golden brown on all sides. Add wine to deglaze pan and reduce until half dry, scraping browned bits off the bottom of pan for flavor. Whisk in broth and lightly simmer until cooked through, approximately 8 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and keep warm.
Sauce: Place pan of remaining sauce over high heat. Let cook for a few minutes, reducing by ¾. Remove sauce from heat. Add minced sage. Add butter and swirl in pan for about 20 seconds. Plate chicken, spoon sauce over and serve.
Orzo Pilaf
Yield: 1 cup
1 T Canola Oil
1 T Onion, finely diced
½ cup Orzo pasta
½ cup Water or Chicken Broth
S & P
Heat oil in pot. Saute onion in oil until tender. Add orzo and stir until well coated and starts to turn color. Add water or chicken broth and salt bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt & pepper, as needed.
Tags: buttered orzo, chicken, easy recipe, gourmet chicken, orzo, orzo pilaf, pasta, pilaf, recipe for two, saltimbocca
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February 25th, 2009
Every time I cook this, my neighbors come to the door asking what smells so good. The aroma of sautéed onion and garlic together piques curiosity, but once it’s in the oven, the sweet tomato and rich, golden mozzarella simply beckons.
This dish is definitely not a traditional lasagna. It’s much lighter and rustic, hence the name. Summer tomatoes make this dish extraordinary. But you can cook it anytime, as long as you have fresh tomatoes on hand. It loses in the translation a bit with canned tomatoes, but you aren’t breaking any laws if that’s the way you choose to go. Enjoy!
Rustic Lasagna
1 ½ lb. Roma tomatoes
2 T olive oil
5 ea garlic cloves, minced
1 ea large onion, thinly sliced
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 lb. ground turkey or ground chicken
tt salt & pepper
8 oz. lasagna
5 oz. mozzarella
1 ½ cups (6 oz.) grated parmesan
2 oz. butter
8 oz. ricotta cheese
8 oz. tomato sauce
Cut an X at the bottom of each tomato. Blanch tomatoes (Place in boiling water for 10-30 seconds. Cool in ice water bath). Peel, remove seeds and chop coarsely. Heat olive oil in large frying pan. Add garlic, onion and parsley, stirring over moderate heat until tender, about 5-10 minutes. Add turkey. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until no longer pink, simmering for about 15 minutes on low heat. Add tomatoes and tomato sauce. Cover and cook for 45 minutes or until sauce is thick. Taste sauce and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling, salted water for 5-10 minutes. Melt butter in baking dish. Arrange noodles on bottom of buttered dish. Layer with meat sauce, ricotta and mozzarella cheese. Repeat, finishing with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400 for about 35-40 minutes, or until lasagna reaches internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Tags: ground turkey recipe, italian recipe, lasagna, rustic lasagna
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February 16th, 2009
There’s nothing like the cool weather to inspire a hot and flavorful soup that warms the soul.
ROCKIN’ CHEF CARROT SOUP
Yield: 4 servings
1 T pure olive oil or butter
½ ea onion, diced
1 lb. carrots, peeled & rough cut
1 ea garlic clove, minced
2 T grated ginger
salt & white pepper, to taste
Pinch garam masala or curry
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock (broth)
honey, as needed
Heat onion in oil or butter over medium heat until translucent. Add carrots and cook 1 minute. Add garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, and garam masala and cook briefly. Add stock and bring to boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes, until flavors come together and carrots are tender, but not mushy. Blend. Return to pot and heat, cooking to desired consistency. Add honey, salt & pepper as necessary to adjust flavor.
Tags: carrot soup, soup recipe
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I’d been craving an apple dessert for a few days, spotted a recipe for a fresh fruit crostata and decided to give it a try. Crostata is a rustic Italian dessert tart, baked free-form (without a pie or tart pan). The marriage of sweet, savory, spice and butter flavors in an apple crostata are a party in one’s mouth. We all stood in my kitchen, speechless as we finished the last bite. So simple and delicious. Here’s my version of the Apple Crostata. Enjoy!
