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?)

Spinach Orchiette Soup

Our soup days are coming to an end, although you wouldn't know it by the weather we had this weekend. It's almost April and it feels like January. I can't take it anymore. 7 weeks and counting until we're in sunny Mexico though, basking in the sun and drinking frozen concoctions that will make me forget about this never ending miserable winter we've had in New England.

This healthy soup is a cinche to throw together and you can freeze in serving size portions. It's a Cooking Light recipe that was given to me by Stacey (founder of the SSCC)!

Ingredients:

1 cup water
3 (10.5 oz) cans chicken broth (or vegetable)
1.5 cups uncooked orecchiette (I used Campanelle pasta)
1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed (or use fresh spinach)
1 cup chopped seeded tomato
3 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
½ tsp pepper
¼ tsp salt
1 large egg
2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Bring water and broth to a boil in a large Dutch oven. Add pasta and spinach; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until pasta is tender. Stir in tomato.

Combine 3 T parmesan cheese, pepper, salt and egg; stir well with a whisk. Slowly drizzle egg mixture into simmering soup, and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with parmesan cheese (to taste). Serve immediately.

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.

The House Salad

I make a salad pretty much every night of the week not because I don't know what else to make but because I love salads. But not any type of salad, I love my salad, or should I say my Nana's salad. And it's so simple and fresh. I'm kind of a snob when it comes to salad, I don't do bottled dressings and I don't like salad from a bag. I mean I'll eat it if someone else is serving it but I can taste the difference. My salad spinner gets more use than any other tool in my kitchen - although my microplane grater is a close second. There are a couple basics about salad.

1) Don't reach for the bagged lettuce - sure it will save you some time but you'll definitely sacrfice in flavor. My favorite lettuce is red leaf, romaine being my second choice. The only lettuce I'll buy bagged is spinach. And you'll never see a head of iceburg lettuce in my house!

2) Toss those bottled salad dressing - I hate pretty much any bottled salad dressing. I normally just use red wine vinegar and olive oil, or at least start with this as a base and build from there by adding shallots, garlic, lemon, etc.

3) Red onions - I don't eat red onions and neither does Brian. But they're essential to the flavor of the salad. Once my salad is washed, I'll put the lettuce in the bowl with a couple slivers of red onions and let it sit for a couple minutes before I dress the salad!

4) Sea salt - not regular salt, not kosher salt, SEA salt is a must. Not much, just a little to give it that extra flavor. I have been known to use Crazy Janes salt, which is basically sea salt with additional herbs.

5) Toppings - typically the O'Neil house salad has one topping, FETA CHEESE. When Brian is not looking I'll put goat cheese in there instead to spice it up. But really there are tons of things you can add to this salad - my favorties being avacados and home made croutons.

6) The bowl - it really does matter what bowl you serve your salad in. It might sound crazy but my salad tastes different depending on what bowl I use. The typical salad bowl I use is shallow, which allows the dressing to be evenly distributed, instead of all running to the bottom of the bowl.

I warned you I was a salad snob.

Stuffed Peppers

I'm trying my hardest to reduce the amount of meat Brian and I consume, but let me tell you, it's hard. Brian is very much a meat and potatoes type of guy - and me, well I'm a carb lover. Now that the winter months are coming to an end (hey, a girl can hope, right?) those bikini and speedo days are in sight. So we're back on the wagon, the diet wagon that is.

This stuffed pepper recipe is very versatile. You can add chicken, ground turkey or no meat at all. You can add any type of cheese, feta, goat or mozzarella. I've adapted this creation from a recipe I found on allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:
2 cup water
1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
2 green bell peppers, halved and seeded
2 red bell peppers, halved and seeded
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 can of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in the rice. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.

Place the peppers cut-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Roast 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until tender and skin starts to brown.

While the peppers are roasting, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onions, basil, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in oil for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, and cook for 5 minutes. Spoon in the cooked rice and cooked chicken, and stir until heated through. Remove from heat, mix in the feta cheese, and spoon the mixture into the pepper halves.

Return to the oven for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.