Caprisi

Seriously, you can not mess this one up, its simple, elegant...and did I mention simple?

All you kneed are a few ingredients, some wine and maybe some Italian music to have fun with.

Tomatoes
Fresh Mozzarella
Fresh Basil
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil (the good stuff)

The main thing to worry about is making sure your tomatoes and mozzarella are about the same size--you want it to look pretty.  So if you get small mozzarella balls..get smallish tomatoes.  If you get tiny mozzarella 'pearls' get grape tomatoes.  Simple as that.

Now cut your tomatoes maybe 1/8 to 1/4 inch think.  If tomatoes are out of season--place them all on the plate in a nice circle design--and salt them now with fresh ground sea salt.  Cut the mozzarella just as thick and place one slice of mozzarella on each tomato slice.  Put a little fresh ground sea salt and pepper on the mozzarella.

You are more than half done.

Roll a few leaves of fresh basil into a tight little cigar shape and slice tiny little ribbons of basil.  Sprinkle this on the tomato and mozzarella.  Do a few rounds of Olive Oil and leave it to sit for about 5 minutes so the salt marries the flavors.

Serve slightly chilled or room temp--I prefer room temp but I am slightly odd.

You can get mozzarella at any major store--I have even seen it in smaller Walmarts when I have had the unfortunate time of being in one.

Enjoy.

Italian Wedding Soup--The simple way

Italian Wedding Soup is a white soup with everything you need in there--after all soup is the ultimate one-pot meal.

Soup in general should always have a base of carrots, celery, onion and garlic.  Trust me.  ALWAYS have those items on hand.

For Italian Wedding soup--and soup in general its about feel when you are making it, real feel of how you think it will taste best at the time.  I find a glass of wine before, during and after makes the feel just that much better when throwing it together. 

Also, use your kids to make the meatballs--because who wants that texture in their hands?

Here's how you do it:

Put about a pound of ground beef (I use low fat ground beef because I am about to tell you to add sausage.)  in a big bowl.  Add some bread crumbs--about three quarters the amount of ground beef, and some Parmesan Cheese--if you did not buy the bread crumbs that already have cheese with it. Now add a package of Italian Sausage.  I like sweet here--but you can use mild or hot, its up to you.  If you get the packages with links, cut the casing off and put the meat in the bowl. 

While you are putting that in the bowl--your kids should be washing their hands.  Once their hands are washed and dried--show them the size of meatball to make.  I like about a quarter or half dollar sized sphere.

Go wash your hands because playing with meat and sausage is disgusting--your kids will like it though.

Peel about 2-3 carrots, dice one large onion, slice two or three stalks of celery, and crush about 3 cloves of garlic--put that all in your stockpot on medium, medium-low.    Grind some salt on it (to taste) and a little black pepper.  The salt here is not only a flavoring here--it is going to make the veggies melt and saute a little faster.  Saute That mix for about 5 minutes.

Here's where you can change this up a little--Italian Wedding Soup usually has Spinach or some other leafy green in the soup itself.  I like Napa Cabbage.  It's the German in me.  And I suppose the Californian.  If you choose spinach, don't put it in just yet--but if you use a hearty green that needs some 'wilting' put it in now.  I use about a quarter of a large head--because I loves me some cabbage.

Once the hearty leaf veggie has cooked for about 3 minutes--just a little softer than normal--add some Chicken Stock.  You are going with Chicken stock here because it make a lighter soup.   I add almost two of those quart containers and a little water so it's not so salty.

Bring that to a boil.

By this time your kids should be done making those meatballs.  Put the meatballs in one by one, and gently stir.   Then add about a cup of tiny pasta.  maybe a half cup...its up to you.   Now Make your kids wash their hands again.  Eeek.

Let it all cook together until the meatballs are done--and the pasta is done, and you are pouring your third glass of wine--might I suggest a nice Red?


Once its all boiled--check  a corrot make sure its done--that is the veggie that is going to take the longest to cook, so if it's done your soup is ready. 

...and pour some more wine...

Roast: when you forgot to cook...seriously.

So yeah, I had the roast all ready last night to throw in the crock pot and cook super slow all day long, so it comes out like butter.  Like Butta! So I got up this morning and started wandering around the house, aimlessly.  Looking for my coffee, finding my coffee, drinking my coffee cold.  Then I looked at my school-work, super dooper bad idea there.


Then I picked up the kids from school, and Madison asked, "What's for Dinner."

Well, crap, just crap.

So I said, "Roast, Madison, of course."  She asked if I cooked it in the crock-pot.  Well thanks for adding insult to injury.  No, Maddie I did not...meany!

So I get home and grabbed my dutch oven--yes this is how people cooked roast in the olden days before crockpots with crazy gadgets and things to hold the lid on. Whatever.  Madison looked at me in awe, like "What, on earth, mother, are you doing?"
 Here's what you do:
Turn the oven on to about 350, 325 if you have a little more time than I did--I had about 2.5 hours until dinner was DUE.
Get the roast, mine was about 4.5 pounds--I have three growing kids and a starving, frozen husband, don't judge.  Peel about half agin (yes that's right I said agin.) as many carrots as your roast looks big.  I went with four medium carrots roughly chopped about an inch long.   Add a few potatoes. Good stuff, this is about how much you like here too, I went with about five small red new potatoes. Add some celery--a few stalks cut the same size as carrots.  One medium sweet onion.  Unless you're cooking for my mother then one medium sweet onion and one medium red onion. cut in quarters, about-ish. 

Throw all that in the bottom of the dutch oven. Put the roast on top.  Grind some sea salt and some fresh peppers--put a few cloves of garlic along the sides.  Add some yummy herbs--I went with my trust "Italian Seasoning" mix. Drizzle with some olive oil.  Yummy, olive oil.

Now put the roast int he oven with the lid to the dutch oven on it.

Cook for about 1.5 to 2 hours. Then turn the oven down to 275.  This will braise the meat for a little longer, and give it the really, really slow cooked butta texture. Serve when the outside looks crispy but not black and you have trouble lifting it out of the dutch oven without it breaking apart--about 45 minutes.

Your sides are in the bottom of the pan--you you could be adventurous.  I served mine with Caprisi Salad--because its simple, takes 5 ingredients and is super cooling and delish.

Enjoy.  I wish I had taken pictures but it was sooooo good when i tried the 'taster' bite I didn't save enough fast enough.

Enchiladas

Now let's all be honest here.  We usually do not go out and make our own enchilada sauce.  I have a few favorites, and I am sure you guys do too.  But if you're in the mood and it seems like you have a ton of time on your hands, by all means go ahead.  Might I suggest this recipe, it looks wonderful. (http://www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com/enchilada-sauce-recipe.html)

Now the secret to enciladas when you're pressed for time is the trust crock-pot.  Yeah thats right.  And no, you are not making the enchiladas in there, just the filling.

Get a roast.  I don't care what type, a pork roast is always yummy, as is beef, or even several of those boneless skinnless chicken breasts you find in the freezer section. Cook about 2-2.5 pounds of meat (again, any kind) in the crock pot with some seasoning.  I find salt, pepper and a few herbs from one of those mixed herbs you can get at any grocery store.  Don't over season it though, a lot of flavor is going to come from the sauce later on.

Cook that roast several hours--I leave my crock-pot on low all day long, often while I am at work. Do not take it out until it is literally falling apart. Literally.  Completely falling apart. 

Put the falling apart roast, or chicken in a fry-pan on medium, and pull it apart.  You want strings of meat here.  As its mostly falling apart, add half of your enchilada sauce.  (I usually go for one of my two cans here).  Simmer it for just a few minutes getting the sauce over everything. EVERYTHING. 

Add about half as much cheese as you have meat.  Mix in the melting pot. Simple, no?

Now get out your tortillas.  Here you have to go ahead and make or get good ones.  Don't get cheap totillas, you will just be mad at yourself later, after that crockpot spent all day cooking for you.

Fill the tortillas with the gooey mixture. Fill them I say.  Dont skimp.  Put each filled tortilla in a baking casserole type dish. Layer them right next to each other, snuggly. It's kind of like a one-layer Enchilada Lasagna.

Once all the tortillas are filled, cover them with the rest of the sauce.  Spread it around so it looks like you took the time to make these traditionally, dredging the tortillas in the sauce then filling, and so on.  Put s sprinkle of cheese--again don't go cheap on the cheese, you want flavor, no? A Vermont Sharp cheddar is fabulous, as is a nice Mexican or Monterrey jack mix of already shredded cheese.

Put the Casserole in the oven at about 350-375 for about 10-20 minutes, or long enough to write a blog post.

Top with sour cream and enjoy.

Okay So I gotta...

I have been lazy, really, really lazy when it comes to cooking of late.  It's not like me at all, and kinda worries me.  I am pretty sure its a combination of the kids not wanting to help withe the clean-up in the kitchen and not really seeing anything I passionately want to make.

So. here goes an old standby.  Remember, sometimes its not about going old school--its about getting the smells to enter your kitchen and make the bug of cooking sting again.

Basic Bread Machine Bread

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1-1/3 cups water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons sugar ( I like to err on the side of sweeter bread--so often I will add a little more sugar--always organic so I feel better about myself.
• 4 cups bread flour
• 2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk
• 1-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Preparation:

Place ingredients in bread pan in order listed or according to manufacturer's directions. That's What everyone says--but I find this method works better.  

Put the water yeast and sugar in the bottom of the bread machine for about 10 minutes--let it bubble like you would if you lived in Paris or something and were making old school bread because that's apparently what you do in Paris.  After its all bubbly, add the rest of the ingredients and put the machine on dough, for the love of god, we want this to look like you actually kneaded it and are like one of those bakers who has time and desire, even though we are only trying to warm the house and get your cooking juices flowing again.  Turn the machine on and watch it for a few minutes, making sure it looks like dough.  If its too clumpy, add some more warm water, if its too soggy add some flour.  Yeah, I know, I know you are making it in a bread machine because you want to have time to watch the game, or eve, gasp do laundry or something--but watch it for 5 minutes while it pulls itself together.  Or better yet, do what I do and have one of your kids do it. 

Step away fro about an hour and a half while it rises twice. 

You can now pre-heat your oven to about 350 or 375.  I go with 350 because that is the auto-on setting with my oven, and frankly I am lazy.  Cook it until when you tap on it is sounds hallow. That is key to yummy bread, how it sounds, not how it looks.  

If you don't believe me, watch that movie about the Rat that cooks in Paris. If you have kids, you've seen it and already believe me. 

Let it cool, then smother as much butter as you can, because that will add to the ambiance of smells in your house.  Let's be honest we don't make fresh bread to cut calories. We make it to put more butter on than we will likely admit. 

Now, move on to something really fun and creative./

Bread Pudding

This is super simple, but everyone seems daunted when they see the final product.

Pudding:
1 Pound good french bread (Usually two small baguettes or one and a half large ones as the large ones are softer and can soak up more stuff, faster.
6 eggs
5 cups milk
1 cup Sugar
1 cinnamon stick (if you don't have it add about a teaspoon ground cinnamon)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract--don't go cheap here, get the real stuff.
About a half cup of raisins--this is more to taste.
1/4 cup Jack Daniels or other bourbon--don't go super cheap though.

Sauce:
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
reserved bourbon (I use Jack Daniels)

Make the pudding:
1/2 hour up to 1 day before-- put the raisins in a bowl and put the bourbon over the top, that's right you are going to bring them back to life with bourbon.
Cut or rip the bread into about 1/2 to 1 inch cubes, place in a bowl.
Scald milk--heat it to just before it starts to bubble--with the cinnamon stick or ground cinnamon in there. Beat the eggs, with sugar and vanilla.
Take the milk off the stove, and temper the eggs with the milk--add a little at a time while mixing it in, until you have about half to three quarters of the milk mixed in, bringing the eggs to temperature without scrambling them. (Don't worry, it's easier than they say on TV). Mix the rest together.

Strain the bourbon off the raisins--reserving the bourbon for the sauce later.

Put the raisins on top of thee bread you've cut and put into a bowl.

pour the warm custard mixture over the bread and let sit at least 10 minutes--30 is better, just let all that soppy goodness soak up.


Mix the bread and custard/raisin mixture a little--just turn it over a few times making sure everything is soaked.

Put the mix in your baking dish--which is coated in butter--don't skimp, go for the butter, no one makes bread pudding to help their diet, let's be reasonable here. Push all the bread down--like you are taking wonder-bread and making balls to throw at your siblings. You want it tight and packed so you only want one piece. Hence the not skimping on the butter.

Here's where you can make a few changes to how it turns out--either put it in a bath (a bigger tub filled about 1/4 to half way with hot water) then bake for a moister, more "New Orleans" Style pudding. Or just put it in the oven for the semi-crunchy sides for a more Northern bread pudding. I prefer the latter--but make the former in honor of my grand-dad.

Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 and a quarter hours--depending upon how moist or crusty you want it.

Just before you take it out of the oven, make the sauce.

The sauce is like this:

Melt a stick of butter--again you are not making this as a means to lose weight.
mix in the cup of sugar--use bakers sugar if you can find it, it comes out nicely.
add the bourbon and mix--you're done, unless you want it creamier, then add a little half-and-half for that rich creamy goodness.

Enjoy, because I can't anymore--blast that egg sensitivity.