BRUSSELS SPROUTS BRAISED W/ PANCETTA, SHALLOT, THYME & LEMON

If you are like me you have never really given brussels sprouts a second thought....right?  I mean why make brussels sprouts when there are so many other vegies out there that you could make; carrots, green beans, peppers, etc.  I started to get bored with the same ol' vegies so I decided to add this recipe; Brussels Sprouts Braised w/ Pancetta, Shallot, Thyme & Lemon to a dinner I made a few years back for my husband and sister.  I served this dish along side a Beef Stew w/ Wine & Carrots and mashed potatoes.  I recently made this dinner again for my entire family to help celebrate some October birthdays.  Once you make this brussels sprouts dish you will never want to go back to steamed green beans and carrots.  The pancetta, shallots, thyme and lemon braise together with the brussels sprouts to create a perfect blend of flavors.  It is a hearty dish so I would suggest adding it to your fall and winter menus.  They would go great for a side dish for both Thanksgiving and especially Christmas!

MOTHER'S DAY - Part 3

Ok...so I made a lot of food for Mother's Day and now I cannot find the time to post all my recipes.  Bare with me because I know I will not have enough time to post them all in Mother's Day - Part 3 and there will be a Part 4 coming your way.  In this post I am going to try and focus on the remainder of my salads:  Eggplant Caponata & Orecchiette with Fresh Mozarella, Grape Tomatoes, and Garlic Chives.  Coming up in Part 4 I will post my recipe for Red Potatoes Roasted with Garlic & Dijon Mustard along with my Flatbeads: Tomato & Basil and Artichoke & Green Olive.  If I have enough time I will also post my desserts:  Lemon Layer Cake w/ Raspberry Curd & Whipped Cream and Cherry Baby Cakes, which by the way were to die for!

MOTHER'S DAY - Part 2

We hosted a Mother's Day party this past week-end and I came up with a menu where I could make everything before my guests arrived.  There is nothing worse than a host or hostess that works and works and works and does not take at least a few minutes to enjoy her guests.  So that being said.....here is the menu with recipes following for our special Mother's Day Party:

Speciality Cocktail: 
    - Viognier Fruit Spritzer (see Mother's Day - Part 1 post for recipe)

Dinner:
   -  Grilled Lemon & Oregano Chicken (see Mother's Day - part 1 post for recipe)
   -  Honey & Orange Marinated Pork Tenderloin Kabobs
   -  Orange Salad with Basil & Feta
   -  Fresh Bean & Bell Pepper Salad
   -  Orecchitte w/ Fresh Mozerella, Tomatoes & Garlic Chives
   -  Red Potatoes Roasted with Garlic & Dijon Mustard
   -  Eggplant Capanata
   -  Flatbeads:  Tomato & Basil  and Artichoke & Green Olive

Dessert:
   -  Lemon Layer Cake w/ Raspberry Curd & Whipped Cream
   -  Cherry Baby Cakes
   -  Store bought Brownie Bites

THE FIRST OFFICIAL COOK-OUT OF THE SEASON

Is anybody else as excited as I am about cooking out?  Finally the weather is getting warm enough where we have all started to think about grilled food and eating outdoors.  We had a busy day spreading about 15 yards of mulch around our plant beds this past saturday.  We enlisted the help of my 7 year old nephew (I know, I know child labor laws..).  He was really a good worker!  After they finished I invited my brother and sister n'law and thier kids over to our house for the first official cook-out of the season.  Here is what was on my menu:  Grilled Balsamic & Rosemary Porkchops, Italian Bread Salad, Fresh Green Bean Salad with Shallots, Bacon & Blue Cheese.  We washed it all down with some ice cold beers and the official summer cocktail: Spiked Lemonade!  Since there is always room for dessert I made a quick Open Faced Strawberry Shortcake.  This meal was quick and easy to make. I actually came up with it based on what I had in my pantry, fridge and freezer.  Sometimes spur of the moment dinner parties turn out to be some of the best!

EGGPLANT & GOAT CHEESE WITH TOMATO SAUCE

A couple months back I posted an appetizer where I layered eggplant, goat cheese and sliced campari tomatoes.  They were awsome and they were a hit!  I decided to come up with a recipe where instead of serving them as an appetizer I could serve them as a side dish and just make more of it.  I came up with a version that is way simpler than eggplant parm, but according to my husband this dish is right up there in taste with eggplant parm.  That is a compliment.  Eggplant parm takes forever to make, but it is worth it.  This dish takes less time to make and it is also less calorie laden since goat cheese has less fat content than mozerella and parmasan.  The eggplant is first dredeged in a bit of flour and then pan fried in a bit of vegie and olive oil mixture.  I layer the eggplant with a quick tomato sauce and then creamy goat cheese.  You could serve this Eggplant & Goat Cheese in Tomato Sauce as the main course with a side salad or as a side dish as I did along side my Honey Roasted Pork Roast.

Swiss Chard & Northern Beans

Swiss Chard is to the Italians as collard greens is to sourthern americans.  It is a staple in the Italian diet.  It is cheap, easy to cook and readily available.  Let me re-phrase that....it is readily available in Italy, but here in the U.S. it is a bit harder to find.  I used to put swiss chard in my Minestrone Soup, but over the years it just gets harder and harder to find the stuff.  I now usually give in and use fresh spinach instead.  Unfortunately, it is not the same.  Sure, swiss chard and spinach are part of the broad leaf vegetable family, but swiss chard is much heartier in texture and taste.  In my recipe I braise it in a large pot with some low sodium chicken broth, a bit of olive oil and some garlic, salt & fresh ground pepper.  I then add some italian northern beans to bring the dish all together.  This is a wonderful side dish to almost anything; meat, chicken, fish and most of all pasta.  Don't be afraid to try something different if you have never tried swiss chard before.  By the way...it is readily available at my favorite grocery store, Caputo's Fresh Markets!

Pasta Dinner Just Like Grandma Used To Make

We had my husbands family over for dinner this past Sunday to celebrate Christmas.  I wanted to make something that could be made ahead of time so I decided to make a pasta dinner with homemade slow cooked sauce.  I made the sauce and meatballs last Sunday and then froze everything.  I took everything out of the freezer, thawed it, and cooked it up on the stove....tadah....dinner is served.  Well, of course it was not that easy!  But I did make things a bit easier on myself by making those things ahead of time.  It all came together extremely well.  Everyone had a great time and I believe everyone enjoyed the food.  I was pretty proud that I made a "Pasta dinner just like my Grandma used to make"!

Christmas Dinner - Prime Rib With All the "Fixin's"!

A few years ago my mom and dad took over hosting our family for Christmas dinner.  My grandmother passed away and the "torch" was passed on to my mom.  The first year I believe she made a beef tenderloin, but the second year and third she made a prime rib to die for!  Last year she perfected her menu and we told her not to change one thing.  This year she listened to us and she did not change a thing!  It is the perfect Christmas menu for our family.  It is relaxing...my mom gets to relax as well because a lot of the recipes she can prepare ahead of time.  Check out our Christmas dinner menu: Prime Rib With All The "Fixin's"!

An Italian Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve in an Italian family  is the feast of the seven fishes, which means the Christmas Eve meal is all about the fish!  It is a tradition for Italian cooks to serve seven different types of fish. In Italian, the meal is known as La Vigilia, or Feast of the Seven Fishes, and it is one of Italy’s most famous traditions.  No one knows for sure the significance for offering seven fishes, although there are numerous explanations for it. Some believe that seven fishes are served because it took God seven days to create the world, while others mention the Seven Hills of Rome. There is also the possibility that the seven fishes symbolize the seven sacraments in the Catholic Church, along with the seven sins. Today, the number of fishes served varies. Although seven remains the historical number.

So..that being said my family, since we are Italian, tries to stick to this tradition of "fish". We do not however make 7 different kinds of fish.  We make three:  fried shrimp, fried calamari and fried smelt.  I have included our entire Christmas Eve menu (our family is now actually too big so we do not actually celebrate this party on Christmas Eve...rather the saturday before)  for you on this post.  Our menu does not falter, does not stray...it is strictly the same every year!  A tradition my Grandmother & Grandfather started way back when.  We tried to honor them every year by keeping up the italian tradition!

Roasted Lemon & Rosemary Chicken

I don't think there is anything better than the smell of a chicken roasting in the oven.  Roasting a chicken is super simple, very delicious and you can get at least two meals out of it (depending on the size of your family).  I roast my chicken with some lemons and some fresh rosemary.  To accompany my Roasted Lemon & Rosemary Chicken I threw together some ingredients to make a wonderful pan gravy, some Roasted Rosemary & Olive Oil Potatoes and Fresh Green Beans with Shallots & Bacon.  This meal is so easy to make, but it takes like you slaved over it in the kitchen for hours!

*Photo Courtesy of Fine Cooking