Roasted Brussel Spouts with a Balsamic Glaze

For those of you out there that don't like brussels sprouts, I STRONGLY encourage you to give them one more try with this recipe.  It is from Ina Garten's Foolproof cookbook and is AMAZING.  I'm pretty sure I've had it once a week since I bought the book back in November!  They are so crunchy and delightful and if you love bacon, you'll love this... I PROMISE!!!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with a Basamic Glaze
Serves:  4
Source:  Adapted from Ina Garten's Foolproof

15 brussels sprouts
kosher salt
pepper
3 slices of pancetta (regular bacon works as well)
1 tablespoon balasmic moderno syrup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut pancetta into 1/2 inch cubes and arrange on a baking dish.  Bake in oven for five minutes.  
 
Remove stems of brussels sprouts and cut in half.  In a bowl combine brussels sprouts, olive oil, salt, and pepper and toss.  Add brussels sprouts to the baking pan and return to oven.  Roast for 20-30 minutes tossing once have way through cooking.  When pancetta is crispy and brussels sprouts are browned, remove from oven.  Drizzle brussels sprouts with balsamic glaze and serve.

Ratings:
Miss J, 10 out of 10
Moe, 6 out of 10 (he isn't a huge Brussels sprout fan) 

- Miss J

 

Chicken Tikka Masala

It took me many years to build up to it, but once I tried Indian food for the first time, I haven't stopped craving it since.  We have an Indian restaurant literally ten feet from our back door and I am a frequent flyer there.  This gets expensive so I thought I'd try out a recipe with my new Le Crueset that I got for Christmas!  I'd say the restaurant is better but this makes a close second.

Chicken Tikka Masala
Serves: 4
Source:  Adapted from theveryhungreycook.com 


1 inch ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp coriander
1/8 tsp cumin
1/8 cardamom
 1/2 lime, juiced
4 tablespoons greek yogurt
2 boneless chicken breasts 

1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 stick butter
1 tsp garam marsala
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1/8 tsp turmeric (optional) 
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups pureed tomato
1/2 cup heavy cream (1/2 and 1/2 would work)
chopped cilantro
2 cups cooked basmati rice

Chop chicken into one and half inch cubes.  Combine first 11 ingredients in a zip lock bag and refrigerate for 24 hours. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Skewer chicken and place on baking sheet.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning chicken every five minutes.  In the last two turns, brush chicken lightly with butter.   

In a sauce pan or 3 qt dutch oven such as a Le Crueset, heat butter.   Saute onions until translucent.  

Add garlic, cayenne pepper, tomato paste, and garam marsala.  Saute for 2 minutes then add chicken tikka and cook for 10 more minutes.  

Add tomato puree and cook over medium-low heat with lid on stirring periodically.  After 30 minutes, add heavy cream and cook for two more minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over basmati rice and garnish with cilantro.  

Enjoy!

Ratings:
Miss J, 8 out of 10
Moe, TBD when he gets off work!
- Miss J
 

Merritt Family Pizza Sauce

As I mentioned in my previous blog, this is the pizza sauce recipe that goes with pizza night.  I absolutely love this recipe because its super easy and can be used on anything from pizza to calzones to pasta sauces.  It also freezes really really well.  Every time I make this now, I double it so I can keep half frozen in the freezer for future meals!  Enjoy!

 
Merritt Family Pizza Sauce
Source:  Merrit Family Original
Serves:   4 large pizzas

1/4 cup extra, olive oil

Small red onion minced

3 garlic cloves, diced

1 tsp red wine vinegar (optional)
crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

28 oz can CRUSHED tomatoes

Tablespoon of fresh oregano

fresh basil 

Put olive oil, onion, and garlic in large saucepan.  Cook over moderate heat until garlic turns golden but not brown.  Add crushed tomatoes and oregano and simmer for 15-30 minutes.  Add salt and pepper.  You can freeze for future use or store in the fridge for up to one week.

- Miss J

Ratings:

Miss J, 9 out of 10

Moe, 8 out of 10 

Merritt Family Pizza Night

This past fall, Moe and I were introduced to the art of pizza making.  Our friend's Cambey and David have shown us that as the process is just as important fun as the actual food you are going to eat.  Pizza night is a wonderful way to engage a large group (and family) and get everyone into the cooking spirit!  My parents came in town, and the last night they were here we shared this wonderful tradition with them!  Everyone was up in the kitchen participating (even my dad who is hardly the cook)! I hope you all enjoy it as much as we have and will continue to throughout the years.

Merritt Family Pizza Recipe
Source:  Cambey and Dave
Serves:  4 Pizzas

4 cups pizza sauce (recipe - Homemade Pizza Sauce)
2 - 8 oz bags of shredded mozzarella cheese
Pizza dough - homemade or store bought (recommend whole wheat from Whole Foods)
Salt and Pepper
corn meal
pizza paddle
pizza cutter
pizza stone

Place pizza stone in a cold oven (very important so stone doesn't crack).  With pizza stone in oven, preheat oven to 550 degrees (if doesn't go that high, 450 degrees will work).  Put some flour on a working space and place dough on surface and roll.  If dough sticks to surface or rolling pin then sprinkle more flour on the dough.  Roll out and every couple of rolls rotate dough 45 degrees in a circle until you reach a 9-10 inch diameter circle.

You can store the rolled out dough on wax paper if you aren't ready to use and can stack them with a piece of wax paper between.  

When you are ready to cook pizza, put wooden pizza paddle on the counter and sprinkle with corn meal so that the pizza will slide off easily onto the pizza stone in oven.  Using your hand spread corn meal evenly over paddle.  Place pizza dough on the peel.  

 
Put a thin layer of sauce on dough.  Cover with toppings depending on which type of pizza you are making.  

Once toppings are complete, use peel to slide pizza onto pizza stone. Close door.  In a minute or so open door and using a fork to turn pizza 45 degrees and shut door.  Check pizza every 30 seconds to a minute turning with fork ever so often.  The pizza is done when the crust is dark brown and almost black.  Using fork, drag pizza onto a pizza try.  Slice immediately and eat!  


Pizza #1 - Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil
2 tomatoes, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1 mozzarella ball, sliced with liquid removed
1 cup pizza sauce

Pizza #2 - Prosciutto and Buffalo Mozzarella
8 slices of Prosciutto
1 container of Buffalo Mozzarella, drained - remove excess liquid with Scott towel
1 cup pizza sauce

Pizza #3 - Pepperoni with Roasted Red Peppers
10 large Pepperoni slices from the deli
2 roasted red peppers (can use jarred or prepare your own on grill)
red pepper flakes (optional)
1 cup pizza sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Pizza #4 - Red Onion with Rosemary
1/2 red onion, sliced long ways and then halved
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, diced
1 cup pizza sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Pictures from the evening...

Ratings:
Miss J, 10 out of 10
Moe, 10 out of 10

- Miss J

Honey Baked Ham Pea Soup

One of my fondest memories of my Nana was her in the kitchen. She was an amazing cook.  I don't have a single memory at her house without it involving sitting at her kitchen table eating a mug of soup (you never went to her house and left hungry).  However, there was one soup the grandchildren refused to try, split pea soup.  Perhaps it was the green/brownish color or the odd texture, but either way, I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.  After years of fighting her on it, Nana got creative.  I vividly remember arriving at her house with my sisters and her stopping us at the door with blind folds. She told us she made us a wonderful surprise and we had we could not peak until she said so.  We all were escorted into the kitchen and seated at the table.  She walked around the table and gave each of us a taste of the surprise.  We all were squealing at how wonderful the warm soup was when she tore off the blindfolds for us to see the green mixture sitting in front of us.  My Nana insisted things aren't always as they seem and when it comes to split pea soup, that is definitely the case! The recipe below is not my Nana's recipe but is adapted from my Ina Garten's cookbook, Foolproof.  The Christmas leftovers had to be put to good use :)

Honey Baked Ham Pea Soup
Serves: 4-6
Source:  Adapted from Ina Garten's Foolproof Cookbook

1 lb frozen peas
1 1/2 cups honey baked ham, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 large shallot, finely diced
1 large garlic clove, finely diced
1/2 tsp salt (more or less depending on taste)
1/2 tsp pepper (more or less depending on taste)
2 cups cooking stock
1 cup white wine (I used pinot grigio) 
olive oil
Parmesan (optional for garnish)

In a large pot or dutch oven such as a Le Creuset, warm oil over medium heat.  Add shallots and saute for 5 minutes until translucent.  Add garlic and heat for one minute. Add ham and saute for one minute to allow fat to coat bottom of pan.  Remove ham and set aside.  Add stock, wine, frozen peas, salt, and pepper to the pot and bring to a boil.  once boiling, reduce down to a simmer.  With a hand held food processor, puree peas into liquid.  Once done, add ham back into mixture and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.  Add more salt and pepper to taste before serving.  Serve with or without a garnish.  Garnish ideas include homemade croutons or Parmesan.  

Notes:  When I made this I kept the meat in the soup when I pureed the peas.  The taste was great, but the texture was a bit lumpy. As indicated in the recipe above, I suggest removing and adding back so the meat are in large bits and the pea soup will be creamy and smooth.  

Ratings:
Miss J, 8 out of 10
Moe, unrated (he is at work)

- Miss J

Italian Stuffed Shells with Fennel and Radicchio

Friday morning my parents flew in from Columbus to visit Moe and I for the weekend.  Last time we had planned a big dinner at a restaurant but Moe's schedule held him up and we ended up not eating until nine (ten o'clock eastern).  To avoid a repeat scenario, we decided to make a homemade Italian meal in the apartment so that we'd have the flexibility to eat it if Matt was running late plus it was a nice quiet evening after a day of traveling for my parents.  This recipe had jumped out at me from the Food & Wine Magazine that my friend had gifted me.  I never have thought of using radicchio outside of salads but it added a very pleasant combination with the fennel and ricotta mixture.  Moe and my parents loved it.  Pretty sure everyone was a member of the clean plate club after this meal!

Italian Stuffed Shells with Fennel and Radicchio
Source:  Food & Wine Magazine, October 2012
Serves:  6

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons EV olive oil
2 pounds fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 medium head of radicchio, chopped
12 oz jumbo shells
2 cups ricotta cheese (part skim)
6 oz Fontina cheeses, shredded (approximately 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup chopped parsley (reserve a small amount for garnish)
2 eggs, beaten
3 cups Homemade Marinara Sauce or jarred sauce
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Melt butter and oil in skillet.  Add fennel and onions to the pan and saute until lightly browned, approximately 15 minutes.  If vegetables start to burn, add water as appropriate.  Add radicchio and cook until soft, approximately 10 minutes (again adding water as appropriate).  Move vegetables out of pan and into a separate bowl to cool.  

In a large pot, cook pasta according to packaging to al dente.  Once done, remove shells and pat dry. 

In a small mixing bowl, combine ricotta, 1 cup fontina cheese, parsley, and radicchio and fennel mixture.  Once mixed, fold in eggs. 

In another bowl, mix marinara sauce  and heavy cream.  Pour 1 1/2 cups into the bottom of a 13 inch baking dish and spread around.  Stuff each shell with ricotta mixture and align shells in the bottom of the baking dish with opening faced up.  Pour 1 cup of sauce sauce over shells and sprinkle with remaining fontina cheese.  

Bake shells for 40 minutes until golden and bubbly.  Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes. While shells are cooling, heat remaining pasta sauce.  Serve pasta shells with warm sauce on the side.  

- Miss J

Ratings:
Miss J, 10 out of 10
Moe, 10 out of 10  

Homemade Marinara Sauce

Homemade Marinara Sauce
Source:  Food & Wine Magazine, October 2012
Serves: 6

1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, halved
35 oz can whole peeled Italian tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 basil sprigs
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add garlic cloves and saute until golden for approximately 5 minutes.  Add tomato paste and cook an additional minute stirring continually to avoid burning.  Add tomatoes and crush with spoon (or dice before adding to pan).  Add pinch of sugar, salt and pepper, and basil and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, reduce to low and simmer for approximately 30 minutes, stirring periodically.  Sauce should reduce down to 3 cups when done.  Remove basil and garlic from sauce and toss.  Sauce can be frozen for future uses or kept in the refrigerator for up to one week. 

- Miss J

Ratings:
Miss J, 9 out of 10
Moe, 9 out of 10