Cicco's Calzone

Holla! Ya, I know, it's been a while. Will you forgive me? I've been cooking, just not blogging. Not sure why, maybe it's because I have very little time after work now since I'm addicted to a couple reality shows and with the writing strike over, some of my favorite shows are coming back. YAY!

American Idol has proved to be one of the best seasons ever in my opinion. I did not cry when Amanda was sent packing last night. I wanted to like her, I really did, but every week she screamed the same wanna be rocker tune and it drove me batshit crazy. I was shocked Carly was in the bottom three though, I really like her. I just think she needs to make better choices. So who are my favs you may ask? I lurve Jason Castro....he looks like a guy I would have totally drooled over in high school, with the long hair, big nose and dreamy eyes. And the cherry on top, he sings AND plays the guitar, well giddyup! I also like David Cooke, aka "big forehead guy" in our household, because even though the renditions of some of my favorite songs are not his originals, he sounds awesome. And David A....despite the fact that he licks his lips more often than not I love him. He's cute, he's kinda dorky, and he's got an amazing voice. I almost cried when he forgot his words last week. I think he'll win the whole shabang if you ask me.

Okay, and onto the calzone! Anytime my group of friends has a party, it's pretty much a known fact that Cicco is bringing a calzone. It's also a known fact that the thing will be woofed up faster than you can say oink oink! I think what makes this calzone stand out is the Land o Lakes American cheese. When it melts, the creamy velvety texture just rocks your world. I ain't lyin folks! But beware, there's a bite to this calzone because of the capicolla (hot italian ham) so if you'd like to make it a little less milder use regular ole ham. Oh and one more thing, don't snub your nose to the bologna like I did, you can't really taste it, and I tend to use less than the recipe calls for. Thank goodness D knew better and did not tell me what was in it before I had a chance to fall in love.

Ingredients:

fresh pizza dough (found in the deli/produce/cheese section)

1/4 lb german bologna

1/4 lb capicolla

1/2 lb pepperoni (sliced from the deli)

1/2 lb land o lakes white american cheese (calm down, you won't use it all)

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Flour pizza dough and roll out into a rectangle. Layer the cold cuts and then the cheese. You might not need to use it all, depending on how big the regtangle is. Fold over the dough (the long side) in half. Wet your hands and press together the edges. Brush the egg on top of the calzone. Bake on a cookie sheet for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Mexican Sausage Wontons

These little bites of heaven are in high demand. This recipe was given to me by Brian's sister and I've passed it on to many more people as someone is always asking me for this recipe. Watch out though, they are very filling. When I made them for SSCC, we were literally in a food coma by the end of the night because we ate so many of them.

Ingredients:

1 package of regular Jimmy Dean Sausage

1 8oz bottle of Hidden Valley Light Ranch

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup of pickled jalenpenos, diced

1 package of wonton wrappers (usually found in the produce section near the tofu and packaged veggies)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray non stick cooking spray in a muffin pan. Insert wrappen into muffin pan so they form cups. Bake for 5-6 minutes and then remove the wrappers from the pan onto a baking tray. Continue until all wrappers are cooked.

Fry the sausage in a frying pan, breaking it apart with a spatula. Cook until no longer pink. Drain sausage (I usually let it sit on a paper towel for a good 10 minutes to adsorb more of the grease).

Combine cooked sausage, ranch and cheese in a bowl. Fill the wrappers with the mixture and place a small piece of jalepeno on top. I don't put jalenpenos on a couple for those who don't like them. Cook them for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is bubbling. If you are brining to a party, just prepare the filled wontons and cook them before you are going to serve them as they are best right out of the oven.

The Good, Bad and the Ugly...Oh and the Artichoke Dip too!

The Good:

Saturday I had some girlfriends over to celebrate my 31st b-day. We iniciated a new rule this year, we'd throw in $20 each and buy the person one bigger gift instead of 5 smaller gifts. We'd also go out for dinner and do something fun like we've always been doing. So for my b-day I asked for a karaoke machine...kinda half kidding and half serious. I had asked Brian for one but he wouldn't cave, and now I understand why (I've been singing to him non stop since Saturday night.)

They got me pretty good though. Brian started out this week by saying the girls weren't getting me a karaoke machine and he'd buy one for me. I wasn't totally convinced of this. Then on Thursday he said the one I wanted was too much money and they couldn't swing it. I think at one point I suggested he give them some money to help defray the costs, but I digress. Lots of expensive things are going on with my friends - closing on houses, upcoming weddings, etc. so the money thing made sense.

Fast forward to Saturday night. My spirits were already down (wait until you read "the Bad") but I knew my time with the girls was going to be the pick me up I needed (still not believing what Brian was saying). So then Cicco walks in the pizza and a box. A smaller box. Definitely not a box that a karaoke machine would come in. I guess, from what my friends say, my face dropped (and this doesn't surprise me because I have a hard time faking emotions) because I was like...CRAP Brian was right, oh no I already pretty much announced on the blog that my friends were giving me a great present, etc. Then during dinner Rocco says "did we tell her yet that she's not getting her present?" I cut her off right there and announce that Brian had already told me the news, no big deal, I understand yadda yadda yadda. They tell me I got something, just on a smaller scale. I was thinking okay, maybe it's just a microphone or a gift certificate. So anyways, we go on with eating and chatting and finally, present time comes. I start opening the smaller present. Everyone is looking at me saying,"what do you think it is?" I open the box and it's empty! Nothing but tissue paper! Then behind the door DC and Brock roll out this HUGE box and I realize I've been punk'd! Finally, my karaoke machine. From there the fun began.

The Bad:

So rewind to Saturday day. I woke up around 9:30 and start dusting, sweeping, laundry, etc. to prepare for my guests. Around 3:30, I hop in the shower. After, I ask Brian to go down and get the laundry. He opens the basement door and yells some four letter words. There's water in the basement. There's actually a small kiddie pool in our basement. So we get the towels and mop out and start cleaning it up. Brian decides to wash the towels that we just used to wipe up the water. We go on about our business, I guess thinking it was a fluke and it wouldn't happen again. About 2 minutes left on the spin cycle, Brian opens the door to the basement and yells some four letter words. There's water in the basement...AGAIN. I still had to go to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for my artichoke dip so he said he'd clean it up. So I leave for the grocery store. When I get back, the shower is running, and I assumed Brian was in there taking a shower so I start talking to him but there's no answer. From the basement, Brian yells, SHUT OFF THE WATER. So you're probably asking yourself,"how long is it going to take them to figure out they've got a problem?" The answer - a couple times. So Brian HAS to take a shower. So I stay down in the basement while he takes the fastest shower in his life (Brian's usually in the shower for a good 20 minutes.) Sure enough...more water. For shits and giggles, I ask him to flush the toilet. Then the mother load....it's like a fountain of water spewing from the pipe. Thank goodness we had a really BIG bucket. We stop...and think...we've got a problem.

Brian then goes on to tell me I'll have to cancel my party. Fat chance mister...I'm getting this karaoke machine come hell or high water (literally)! So we call the town to see if they can make an emergency house call. I call and leave a message for someone to call me back. Well no one ever does until noon the next day when we figured out the answering service took down the wrong number! I could kill her. We called a couple times and she blamed the town, saying "they must have turned off their pagers." So needless to say, everyone still came over, no one peed and we used paper plates. IMO, the party was still a success.

The Ugly:

What the heck happened to the Patriots? You know - that team that was supposed to go undefeated, 19-0? They did not play on Sunday. I don't know who those men in tight pants were out there but that sure wasn't our beloved Brady. I won't act like I know (or give) to hoots about football. I like the Superbowl for the commercials, half time performances and most of all the food. But I have to say this game kept my attention, I was on the edge of my seat, and could not believe what I was seeing. When the Giants scored the final touchdown, our house went silent, for what seemed like hours. A house filled with about 10 people and you could hear a pin drop. We were, and still are, in disbelief.

and the Artichoke Dip:

And if you are still with me - on to the reason why I blog, the food! I've tasted a lot of artichoke dips in my day and I have to say this is probably the best - well besides the one at Cottonwoods. But it's definitely a close second. Try it and let me know if you like it as much as I do!

The Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup grated Romano cheese

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

pepper to taste

1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

3/4 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a small baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic, basil, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach (do not squeeze all of the water out of spinach and artichokes or else the dip will be dry.) Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with parmesan cheese. Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.

And some pictures for those who are interested.

Barefoot's Pan Fried Onion Dip

This dip is damn good - so good you could eat it with a spoon. If you love onion dip I think you'll enjoy this home made pan fried onion dip by Barefoot Contessa. I love a lot of her recipes but watching her show puts me to sleep. She's monotone and doesn't often get excited about what she's cooking, unlike Paula or Giada.

I put this in a bread bowl, but a dish and sliced french bread would do. It's also very good with plain kettle cooked chips.

Even Brian, who hates onions, ate it. Nuff said.

Ingredients:

2 large yellow onions

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 cup good mayonnaise

Cut the onions in half and then slice them into 1/8-inch thick half-rounds. (You will have about 3 cups of onions.) Heat the butter and oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions, cayenne, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 more minutes until the onions are browned and caramelized. Allow the onions to cool.

Place the cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Add the onions and mix well. Taste for seasonings. Serve at room temperature.

Olive Crostini

To some, I'm known as the appetizer queen. Typically when we are invited to a party people can rely on me to bring an appetizer. I was getting fed up with my regulars so I've added these to my repetoire. I love olives, any kind of olives, probably because of their saltiness. I know there is a fine line, people either love olives or they HATE them. I kinda feel sorry for people who don't like them, especially kalamata olives, because they don't know what they're missing.

So if you, or anyone you know loves olives like I do, they're sure to enjoy this quick and easy appetizer recipe. I found this recipe on my favorite food blog Simply Recipes. The link can be found under the blogroll.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup kalamata olives

1/2 cup green olives with pimientos

2 medium cloves garlic

1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

4 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup Monterey jack cheese, grated

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 baguette

Chop olives in a food processor. Transfer to medium bowl. With machine running, drop garlic through the feed tube of the food processor and mince. Add Parmesan, butter, and olive oil, and process into a paste. Add butter mixture to bowl with olives. Fold in jack cheese and parsley. Cut baguette into thin slices and spread each slice generously with olive mixture. Cook under broiler until bubbly and lightly browned - about 2 minutes.

Serve right out of oven. Helps to make olive mixture in advance and spread right before you put in the oven. Makes approximately 24 toasts.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Man, it's ass biting cold here in Boston! For all my fans in other states I envy you right now. Sure it might be cold but I can guarantee you that it's not 10 below with the wind chill. Yes, you heard me right, 10 flippin' below zero! My Nana is coming home from California this weekend and it looks like she's bringing the warm weather with her. On Sunday, it's supposed to be close to 60 degrees. I'm not getting too excited because it's only the beginning of January and we have another 4-5 months before we can hang up our winter jackets. I often ask myself, why the hell I live up here!

But in the mean time, I'll make some of this hot buffalo chicken dip to warm up my insides. This recipe was given to me by a friend of the SSCC (South Shore Cooking Club) and every time I've made it at least 2 people ask me for the recipe. It doesn't look great but it sure does taste good.

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken breast - boneless skinless
1 8 oz. block cream cheese softened
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup ranch dressing
1/2 bottle of Franks Red hot (approx. use to taste)

Cook chicken either by baking or boiling and let cool. Shred by hand. Mix in remaining ingredients together. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Yes, it's that simple. I serve with the Tostitos Gold chips which are strong enough to dual with this dip.