from my kitchen - home made pizza

To think last week end we were walking around Washington DC and the weather was beautiful, spring like even! Today one week later it is cool and nasty out, last night it dipped down into the thirties here. In some parts of Northern Virginia today they say...SNOW! wow.

So what to do?

I say make home made dough, fire up the kitchen's oven, break out the pizza stone and make some pizza!

There is NOTHING better then the aroma of fresh dough rising in the kitchen on a cold rainy day, let me tell you! It brings back wonderful memories of my grandparents. Have I every mentioned that my Popa was a baker and that Nana loved to bake pies and bread after he passed?

It is one of my fondest memories of childhood. Mmmm, I can close my eyes and just conjure up that smell in my brain and the feel of the dough  and my grandmothers hands in mine teaching me how to kneed and work the dough.

But now things have changed. I have my trusty Kitchen-aid mixer with dough hook to do most of my work for me! All I have to do is choose the right flour ( King Arthur Flour- my personal preference and I have not been compensated for the shout out to the King ) and make sure I add the right amount of water, yeast and salt and in the right order. The amount of flour when it comes down to it really is a feel thing I might add...

from my kitchen - salad recipe- bean, corn and avocado

Today is a beautiful day here in Virginia, it's still grilling weather....for now. The other day not so much then it was a soup day. When the weather gets crazy I spend more time than I should thinking about food. Today's obsession was this avocado I had in the basket on my cutting board in the kitchen. I had to plan an entire meal around the darn thing; really I did. I know I'm crazy! But I didn't want to make Mexican, so I had to get creative.

As promised,  I'm sharing the recipe and a picture for my blog readers.I'm going to try to do more blogging about food and cooking, it really is something that's a part of me, something I enjoy. Whether I'm organized enough is another story! As far as this recipe is concerned, I think it goes well with burgers, chicken, whatever your grilling really! And it's simple as anything, just some simple chopping, opening of a can or two. I hope you'll try it. We're having it tonight with these neat little barbecue meatball's that I make and some rice. Yum!

Bean-Corn and Avocado Salad

Bean Corn and Avocado Salad


1 (15 oz.) can cannellini, rinsed and drained ( any beans can be used)

3 ears corn, cut from the cob or 1 c. frozen corn

½ c. red onion chopped

1 /2 red  or orange  pepper, chopped

1 avocado, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely minced (optional)

2 cups chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned

zest from 1 lime or lemon

1 1/2 limes or lemon, juiced

1 tablespoon cilantro or parsley, chopped

½ c. olive oil

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

-from my kitchen- cream of spinach soup

Every once and a while I hit a home run with a recipe that my Mom just loves. Here's one that she raved about the first time I made it for her a few weeks ago on a rainy day. I thought I'd share it. So I decided to  make it again and take some pictures and share it on this blog. Be aware it is far from low calorie due to the butter and the half and half, however if you serve it with some nice crusty bread and a wonderful salad I think it's worth it- and spinach is good for you remember!!

CREAM OF SPINACH SOUP

INGREDIENTS

2 cups chopped fresh spinach - packed - (or 1 10-oz package frozen spinach, thawed)

1 cup chopped onion

·         1/4 cup butter

·         3 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered (about 1 pound)

·         3 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)

·         2 cups half-and-half

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1/8 teaspoon pepper

·         3/4 cup sour cream

·          

·         Optional: chopped chives and/or ground allspice for garnish

·          

·        METHOD

·         In a large saucepan over medium heat, sauté onion in butter for 3 minutes or until limp.

     Add potatoes, chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

     Add spinach and cook for 2 to 4 minutes longer until spinach is tender.

·         

·         Working in batches, purée soup mixture in a blender – return to sauce pan or you may use an immersion blender.  Whisk in half-and-half, salt and pepper.

·         

·         Over low heat, bring to just before simmering. Whisk in the sour cream. You may want to use an immersion blender to get the sour cream fully incorporated. 

·          

·         This soup can be served hot or chilled.

yummy !

·          

·         Enjoy!

·         Serves 6 to 8.

·          

-from my kitchen- well isn't that special

Is there something special that you just love about your kitchen? A favorite appliance, your wallpaper or curtains? I don't know about you but I spend a good amount of my day in my kitchen. It's my domain, I know every little inch of it. The fridge, stove and sink all remain in their original places I just added some touches- a cutting board counter-top, accessories and lighting added-all in the right places. 

When we bought our house 25 years ago it came with a little bonus, well maybe it's not so little..... it's a wood stove from Ireland. I have upon occasion cooked on it- even baked in it and I have most certainly heated my house with it.This thing turns out awesome home made pizza by the way. 

One Christmas for six long days without electricity due to and ice storm we used the stove to heat our home.  We hosted our neighbors who had small children, no heat and no other place to go. Add to the mix our large family and what we had was one of the most memorable Christmas's in my memory. We actually baked a large turkey dinner with all the trimmings using that stove.

For many days candles and lamps gleaming as if we were from another time, bedrooms overflowing with blow-up beds- sleeping bags everyone staying warm and cozy. Amongst the board games and card games, memories were made as the adults watched the kids play with their Christmas gifts- no electronics, no TV. Even with all the inconveniences-and there were many- it may have been on of my favorite Christmas's ever.

As a former New Yorker I have come to understand the "country life"and the ways of the south. I used to view the stove as a bit of a beast in the middle of my house. I've come to respect and appreciate it- it's grown on me, it's just a little something that makes my kitchen special.

-from my kitchen- holy junk drawers batman

Starting the other day I have made this little deal with myself to take on these little projects in the house to get it in order before the southern heat sets in and we have to turn the central air on. For some reason when the summer heat comes mama doesn't get much done in the house. I happily dedicate my summer to the garden getting some time at the beach and spending some time with my family.

Anyway so far the den, my laundry/pantry room and the food shelves have been cleaned off and re-arranged.  The area going out to the garage where we keep the chest freezer is all spiffy and is ready for the new refrigerator that we ordered from Lowe's the other day. 

before

This brings me to my next project, do you have junk drawers in your kitchen? Believe it or not I have three. To put it lightly they are a mess and filled to the brim with all sorts of....how should I put this politely....crap, the pictures in this blog post show the before and after of just one of the three. True story- three weeks ago we had a birthday party for my mom, I had to use a votive candle on her cake, in all this mess I couldn't find the b'day candles and I know I had them in there somewhere.

So I lined up the three drawers, positioned the trash within arms reach and went to work on trying to make some headway on the madness.
I was a bit shocked to find a few things like.......

    1. the birthday candles- sorry mom!

    2. 11 decks of  playing cards

    3. 4 rolls of scotch tape and 3 rolls of packing tape- all partially used

after

    4. 4 nice wine corks and 5 bottle pour thingees  I didn't even know I had

    5. 4 cat flea treatments- the ones you put behind their necks-(those things are expensive!)

    6. 2 packs of gum that are a million years old.
    7. 4 ash trays- who smokes anymore anyway?
    8. an I-Pod nano
    9. enough 22 caliber ammo to make Dirty Harry dirtier.

It took a while but I got all three drawers done. I'm not really sure how long my efforts will last but at least for now I feel like I've accomplished something. 

  

-from my kitchen- a little italian

When I was a child my parents were always in the kitchen cooking up one thing or another. I don't remember ever hanging out watching everything they did or getting lessons from them. I often wonder if there's such a thing as a natural cook if there is then I'm one. I just like to cook by taste, sight, smell and even sound. I don't do anything fancy- at least I don't think so,  but I guess it helps that I enjoy doing it. I guess it doesn't hurt that like to entertain as well.

My younger brother is the same way, I should probably give him a shout out since we have upon occasion had a bit of sibling rivalry about a certain methods of cooking a particular thing. You can read about it here if you click on meatball wars  It's a post I did on my vacation blog we're on hawaiian time about our family vacation at our older brothers in Hawaii when we cooked an Italian night dinner together.

In the past few weeks I have gotten two separate requests from different friends who were doing cook books and wanted to include a few recipes of things that I cook regularly in them. If a friend wants a recipe, you know what I have to do? I have to cook whatever they want from scratch so that I can measure every ingredient and write it down for them.

Today I put together the actual recipe for Italian sauce and meatballs/ hot sausage. We're gonna eat it later with spaghetti and a salad. The left overs I usually freeze and it will go to my son who lives up in the city, and he'll do Italian night when the guys come over to watch sports. I would be remiss if I did not mention my son is an alumni of VCU and the basketball team from that University is going to the big dance....GO RAMS!!

Italian Sauce & Meatballs

SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

2- 28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes (hunts) plus ¾ can of water

¼ cup olive oil

3 cloves fresh garlic whole

1tbsp. Parsley (dried- fresh if best)

½ tsp. Oregano (dried) if fresh basil is in season use that instead

1tsp salt

1tsp sugar

METHOD:

1.      Put oil in the bottom of a sauté pan ( not aluminum)

2.      Add garlic, be sure not to let it burn.

3.      Then add on can of tomatoes and ¾ can of water and all the spices

4.      Bring to a boil, then add the other can and reduce to a simmer.

5.      Cook for 1 ½ hours uncovered.

MEATBALLS

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup parmesan cheese

2 eggs beaten

1 tbsp garlic powder

2 tbsp parsley

2 lbs ground beef (you can use 1/3 part ground pork)

¾ cup plain bread crumbs

 olive oil for cooking

METHOD:

1.   Mix the first four ingredients in a large bowl.

2.      Then add the ground meat and blend them both well.

3.      Sprinkle the bread crumbs and mix them until they are full incorporated in the meat.

4.      Form the meatballs- they can be any size.

5.      Heat a frying pan with some oil and fry the meatballs so that they are browned- they do not have to be cooked fully thru. ( you will see pink, so  don’t worry)

6.      Add them to the sauce.

7.      This recipe makes 25 Forbes size meatballs, enjoy! Sauté hot or sweet Italian sausages and add to sauce .
      
     They'll be more recipes coming after this,  if you try this one please let me know what you think. 

i am embracing my irish american chef today

Oh what would St Patrick's Day be without a good  Irish American meal. Of course my relatives in Ireland probably would  think this was a little strange, but hey we enjoy it. Probably the only thing that really is embraced by the Irish that I'm going to have today is beer. There's no Guinness in the house so we'll have to settle for a Stella which is a Belgian beer- but in a green bottle. So- I put my corned beef, cabbage, potatoes. carrots and onions into the slow cooker and then gathered up my ingredients for my Irish Soda bread- American style.  This is what we ended up with. I hope you all had a Happy St Patty's as well. 

Irish Soda Bread

INGREDIENTS:

4 c sifted flour
1 1/2 tsps baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 c sugar
1 c raisins (or cranberries for a nice change)
2 tbsp melted butter
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1 tbsp caraway seeds

DIRECTIONS:

Mix dry ingredients. Mix butter, eggs and buttermilk. Stir into dry ingredients. Use a 2 qt pan (like a pyrex) because it works the best  since this batter is rather moist. (it may be necessary to add more flour). Don't forget to put the cross on top with a knife..

 Bake at 350 degrees for 1.25 hours.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

INGREDIENTS: 1 medium onion, cut into wedges 4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered 1 pound baby carrots 3 cups water 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 bay leaf

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp cider 

vinegar

1/2 tsp pepper

1- 3 pounds of brisket corned beef with spice packet

1 small cabbage cut into wedges

DIRECTIONS:

Place the onion, potatoes and carrots in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Combine water, garlic, bay leaf, sugar, vinegar, pepper and contents of spice packet; pour over vegetables. Top with brisket and cabbage. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaf before serving.