Twice Baked Potatoes

Since Bri loves potatoes, I'm always looking for a new way to make them. While twice baked potatoes take a little more time and effort, it's definitely worth it. My aunt Pat always makes these and they are delicious. You can add sour cream and chives to the top if you wish, but these potatoes are perfect just as they are.

Ingredients:

5 medium baking potatoes

2 tbl. butter or margarine

1/2 cup each cheddar and colby cheese

1/2 jar of Hormel Bacon Bits or 1/2 crumbled bacon

1 tbl. mayonaise

milk

salt and pepper to taste

Wash and dry potatoes. Pierce holes in potatoes and bake in a preheated oven at 450 for an hour. Don't wrap potatoes - put them on rack in oven. Let cool for 15 minutes. Cut a length wise slice from the top of each potatoes. Discard skin from slice. Scoop out the insides and mash. Add butter and mayo. Beat in enough milk to make a stiff consistency. Add cheese, saving a little for the topping, and bacon. Salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon mashed mixture into potato shells. Place in a baking dish. Bake in a 425 oven for 20-25 minutes or till lightly browned. Place cheese on top of potatoes, sprinkle with paprika. Bake 2-3 minutes longer or just until cheese melts.

**Please note in the picture above, I left the potatoes in too long at the end so the cheese browned. I was at cooking club, there was wine and an appetizer. What potatoes?

Pasta Caprese

In honor of the birth of Giada's baby girl, Jade Marie De Laurentiis Thompson, I decided to make this pasta from my Giada cookbook. Okay that's a lie, my aunt called me and told me I had to try this recipe, it was quick, easy and delicious - three words that are music to my ears.

I love most of Giada's recipes, in fact, I think I've said this before, she's my favorite Food Network chef. Yes her voice drives me insane and her shirts seem to keep getting lower and lower, but hey, she's cute, so I can't blame her. Her recipes are always fresh and light - two more words that are music to my ears.

So when I told Brian I was making pasta and sauce on a Tuesday night, the little rat thought I was whipping up a real sauce with meatballs. Um excuse me, that would take me hours. I think I spoil him. So when I'm chopping up the fresh cherry tomatoes, he got nervous. Actually the exact phrase was "I'm scared, is there any left over chicken from last night?" As you know Brian will remove tomatoes from any dish that touches his plate. If you've ever watched him, it's almost like surgery. With a precise steady hand he removes things such as tomatoes, artichokes, olives, onions, etc. I do get mad he wrecks my masterpiece, but as I've said before, I get all the scraps so I consider myself lucky.

About 20 minutes later we were both sitting down and enjoying the FANTASTIC meal. And guess what, Brian loved it! He did pick out the chunkier tomatoes but he did manage to eat a few and he surprised himself by actually enjoying it. I recommend this recipe for a quick week night meal or even for a large crowd. This will definitely be added to the dinner rotation. Next time I make it, I'll use less oil because I don't think it needed that much. I might add even more tomatoes and perhaps some chicken. Brian will love it even more if it's topped with a pile of meat - he's so meat and potatoes!

Ingredients:

1 pound fusilli pasta (I used rigitoni - just make sure it's a hearty pasta the sauce will stick to)

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic minced

3 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered (about 1 1/2 pints)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, torn 8 ounces

fresh mozzarella, diced (about 1 1/4 cups)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta into a large bowl and reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

In a medium skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt, and pepper. As the tomatoes cook and soften, smash them with a fork. Continue to cook until the tomatoes make a chunky style sauce, about 4 minutes. Transfer the tomato sauce to the bowl with the pasta. Toss to combine. Add the basil leaves and mozzarella. Stir to combine. Add the reserved pasta water, 1/4 cup at a time, until the pasta is moist. Serve.

I think I'll make this the next time the Corey's come over for dinner. Shout out to Danielle Corey who is a member of the C6. Don't ask me where she's from because I never remember if it's England, Wyoming, Oklahoma or North Carolina. Now she currently resides in Malden with her husband David and two cats, Ralphie and Rufus that she adores despite the fact that they've already destroyed her new furniture. She's absolutely crazy but that's why we love her....

(D - feel better now?)

Asparagus Risotto

This has been an interesting week to say the least. I'm rarely speechless but this week I am. When you think you know someone and the suddenly find out you really just never know what goes on behind closed doors, it rocks you to your core. So before you start worrying about me, it's not the husband or any of our family members thank goodness. I'll leave it there....

So what I have been able to do this week is eat. Usually when life gets a little chaotic, food becomes my best friend. Sad, I know, but I'd venture to say a lot of people deal with this same problem. If anyone knows me, I've got an obsessive behavior. I made this asparagus risotto on Monday night and I've been dreaming about it ever since. If I had any left overs, I was going to bring it to cooking club on Tuesday, but I was selfish and wanted to hoard the leftovers in the back of the fridge all for myself. It was that good. I found the recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, http://www.elise.com/. I made one change, only because I didn't have shallots on hand, but other than that followed the recipe. It was a creamy delicious meal that just felt good going down. Very comforting.

Although I will warn you, risotto is not the easiest meal to make. It's not a meal you can make while trying to multi task. You must constantly stir to make sure the rice doesn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pan. And there's no real measurement for how much chicken stock to use. You just have to keep tasting the risotto to make sure the consistency is right. If there's to much stock or it's overcooked, it can become a startchy bowl of mush. It's supposed to be a little firm to the bite. Even though this is a little more work that regular rice, it's completely worth it and you'll be happy you tried it. You might even become obsessed like me.

Ingredients:

1 pound asparagus
3 Tbsp plus 1 teaspoon butter
1/2 cup chopped shallots (i used yellow onion since I didn't have any shallots)
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine (or 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1/4 cup water)
About 3 1/2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian option), can substitute some of the asparagus cooking water for stock
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

1. Prepare the asparagus by breaking off discarding the tough ends (about the last inch of the spear). Cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch pieces (tips longer, base shorter). If your asparagus are especially large, cut into even smaller (bite-size) pieces. Bring a saucepan with a quart of water to a boil. Blanch the asparagus pieces for 2 minutes. At the end of two minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove the asparagus pieces to an ice water bath to shock the asparagus into a vibrant green color and to stop the cooking. Drain from the ice water bath and set aside.

2. In a 3 or 4 quart saucepan, heat 3 Tbsp butter on medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for a few minutes until translucent. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring until nicely coated.

3. While the shallots are cooking, bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan.

4. Add the wine. Slowly stir, allowing the rice to absorb the wine. Once the wine is almost completely absorbed, add 1/2 cup of stock to the rice. Continue to stir until the liquid is almost completely absorbed, adding more stock in 1/2 cup increments. Stir often to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

5. Gently stir in the Parmesan cheese, the remaining 1 teaspoon butter, and the asparagus. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

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.

Caramelized Onion Chicken

This past weekend was beautiful. The warm sun had finally melted the last bit of snow away. Just in time for the Nor'easter. Well if you ask me, and remind you I'm from Texas, the big Nor'easter proved to be a huge disappointment. It started yesterday when Brian and I made a trip to Costcos. It was chaos. You would have thought they were giving away free food (think Super Market Sweep). I knew we were getting snow, but come on people. Then last night they started announcing school closings and I think pretty much every town was shutting down. When I woke up this morning I expected more than what I saw. I mean, sure it snowed, cars were covered, etc but they blow everything out of proportion. Most of the people made it into the office, besides the lucky few who worked from home. Ahhh, the joys of New England.

So here's a Caramelized Onion Chicken recipe from Cooking Light (but it was given to me by Sue). I love pretty much anything with caramelized onions. This sweet and savory dish will not disappoint. I think this is something kids would even enjoy. They can do what Brian does and pick out all the onions. I served this over jasmine rice and thought it was another quick and easy dish.

Ingredients:

1 lb of chicken breast or tenders cut into pieces

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp olive oil

1 cup of sliced onion (I used sweet)

1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

1 tbs red wine vinegar

1 tbs low sodium soy sauce

1 tsp bottled minced ginger

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add chicken to pan; saute for about 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove onion and chicken from pan and set aside.

Add jam and remaining ingredients to pan. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return chicken mixture to pan. Cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. However, the longer it cooks, the more thicker the sauce gets.