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I recently decided noticed that I tend not to eat breakfast, or if I do I would just grab something quick like a bagel or eggs from a deli, and rarely do I eat lunch. Certainly nothing that was healthy. So I have decided that a quick and easy way to make sure I [...]
So many people love Kiwi’s but in the North East I think that many people don’t know how to get to the fruit making them reluctant to use them in recipes. Here is a simple way to peel a kiwi and get to the fruit quickly. What you Need 1 kiwi 1 spoon, roughly the [...]
I haven’t met anyone yet who would turn away a gooey sugary cinnamon bun, especially drizzled in frosting. Once again this recipe comes from the Bread Baker’s Apprentice written by Peter Reinhart. The way I used the recipe was for cinnamon buns but you can alter the cooking method to make sticky buns. I will try this [...]
I love bread. There are no two ways about it. All protein diets seem like they would be hell to me and a sacrilege at that. I recently received a gift from a dear friend. It is the Bread Baker’s Apprentice written by Peter Reinhart. I’ve been baking for my whole life and the insights in this [...]
Poolish is a pre-fermenter. This meals that we are going to start the yeast activity prior to actually making our bread. Prior to reading the Bread Baker’s Apprentice my only experience with a pre-fermenter was using a starter for a sourdough bread. After using this method for the first time I see why I would want to [...]
Anyone who has been following my blog as of late can see that I have a thing (recently acquired) for flavored martinis. Chocolate and espresso combinations are really what is getting me going right now. You can’t make a good espresso martini without having good espresso and instant is just not goo espresso. The pot [...]
Who doesn’t like an espresso martini? Well I do know some friends who don’t drink so I guess they would be out but if you are reading this page I am guessing that you don’t fall under that category. Ingredients 1 cup espresso – fresh brewed and chilled 1/2 cup chocolate liquor – I use [...]
Somewhere along the way I became obsessed, well temporarily so, with the concept of an English Pudding. The term seems to encompass so many things that the American version does not. When we from the states think of pudding as the cups of custard that Bill Cosby used to push on us. The British version [...]
Who doesn’t love chocolate mousse? This recipe is fluffy and delicious with just the right amount of kick from the dark rum and the perfect amount of sweetness. This is a Julia Child recipe posted online by David Lebovitz. What a perfect way to help us ring in the new year! Ingredients 6 oz bittersweet chocolate [...]
I love Meatloaf. Getting my wife to eat anything I call meatloaf takes a minor miracle. When I saw this meatloaf recipe I thought it might fit the bill, laden with veggies, cooked on a sheet so it would reduce the “slime” my wife so detests and packed with flavor even the meatloaf haters in [...]
I’m not a huge fan of Ina Garten’s. There is just something about her that annoys me. I’m not even sure what it is or can’t put it into words. She does, however, have some very good recipes. One of these is her Espresso Martini recipe. I was a big fan. My family was not. More [...]
Jules and I discovered this recipe the first time we decided to diet. It has a large quantity of vegetables and mushrooms offsetting the meat in the calorie range. Wonderfully high in flavor, pretty easy to make and fun to eat. Ingredients cooking spray 1 lb 93% lean ground beef 1 medium onion – thinly [...]
Rich and delicious, luscious and Velvety… Who doesn’t like pudding? Now some of you out there may say a pudding with eggs is a custard. I’m calling this a pudding and you can’t stop me! Ingredients 1/3 cup granulated sugar 2 Tbsp cornstarch 1/4 tsp salt 2 1/4 cups whole milk 3 large egg yolks - lightly [...]
Cheesy creamy and filling this meal is great to serve. This recipe calls for 6 servings but certainly can be cut into 4 instead of six giving you a larger amount of food. Seen here is the 6 servings which might be a little scant for some. This is one of the lower calorie meals [...]
I grew up eating this dish pretty often during the winter months. Being that my wife grew up in a jewish household mixing meat and milk was never on the menu so I decided to introduce her to this delicious meal. It was a big hit! Pretty easy to make the most time consuming piece [...]
I had always kept my spicy magic dust recipe to myself. I’m not really sure why. Maybe it is because I have been refining it for years. Maybe it’s because so many others do. Maybe because it makes it feel more special than it is. Whatever the reason I have decided it isn’t a good [...]
This soup is wonderfully packed with flavor. I roasted all of the vegetables myself, I think that using fresh ingredients makes a huge impact however to save time you can purchase pre roasted red peppers and tomatoes making this a pretty quick meal to throw together. Serve with a nice hearty bread like my whole [...]
It’s getting to that time of the year again, cooling down leaves are turning and falling. I love this time of year and for whatever reason I associate this time of year with thicker heartier breads. This whole wheat bread incorporates pumpkin and sunflower seeds as well as wheat bran, ground flax seeds and 4 [...]
Want to impress your friends with a great meal without making too much of a fuss? This meal works really well. I was able to prep this meal and serve within an hour while talking with friends and having a few drinks. If you are more organized than me you can prep the base before [...]
My wife and I love Indian food. After we moved into our home we became friends with this wonderful couple across the street. He was from India and taught me to prepare just a few dishes before he passed. Unfortunately this is not one of the dishes he taught me so I had to rely [...]
I’m not a big fan of blondies. I don’t know why. I’ve never been a big fan of blondies. Maybe if they were called something else it would be more appealing to me but given the choice I am almost always go for the brownie over the blondie. Then I saw this recipe on Pies [...]
Leftover ingredients always get me to fire up my thoughts and see what I can make out of them. This time it was just the leftover goat cheese that did it. I was a little concerned about all of the bold flavors in here, goat cheese, roasted red pepper and adding a cream sage sauce [...]
Blueberries have been easy to come by lately so we have been eating a fair amount of blueberry desserts. This one looked great and came out amazing. It was fairly easy to make if you have some level of cooking experience. The blueberries were tart and sweet at the same time, the lemon zest and [...]
Another Mac and Cheese recipe. This one is not as fancy as the last and may be more what many people are used to, cheddar and parmesan cheese topped with breadcrumbs. Oh so good. Oh so easy. Quick enough for a weeknight meal, tasty enough for a barbeque side. Ingredients 8 oz’s whole wheat elbow [...]
I like to mix my vices. I love to cook (and eat). I, like many, enjoy an adult beverage with dinner or when out with friends. Why not combine these loves? These brownies are great, if you like a more caky than gooey brownie and the ganache covering is just decadent. the espresso vodka gives these just [...]
This tangy fresh dill sauce goes well with any fish dish. It is cool from the yogurt, tangy from the lemon and fresh from the herbs. It is vibrant, cool and wonderful. Add some cucumber and this would make a wonderful tzatziki sauce to serve with all of your greek dishes. It was quick and easy to put [...]
This recipe was originally taken from Christine’s Pantry. She called them Salmon Balls but that just plain sounds dirty so I renamed them Salmon Bites and served them with a wonderful homemade dill yogurt dipping sauce. My wife and I scarfed all of them down in one sitting with just a tiny bit of guilt. [...]
This wonderfully easy crumble comes together quick enough for surprise company or just a weeknight treat. The blueberries cook down releasing the sugars and go amazingly with the butter, oats and brown sugar. So simple, so delicious! Try getting your kids to help you make this one. You might have to help them melt the [...]
This is a hearty comfort meal that will please the whole family. Creamy chicken soup, mushrooms and noodles make a perfect combination and this meal can be put together quick enough to serve on any weeknight without impacting your all too busy schedule. Ingredients 2 Tbsp butter 1 1/4 lb. chicken breast – cut into [...]
I have really gotten into stuffed burgers lately. They have all of the benefits of the toppings while containing everything inside. You bite into the burger and there is small burst of great flavors all at once. This one I made at my wife’s request. Mushrooms carmelized in a little bit of melted butter mixed with [...]
What’s better than grilling your food during the summer? You don’t have to heat up the house, there is a wide variety of food you can cook ranging from the healthy to the guilty pleasures and grilling (especially when using charcoal) gives your food tons of additional flavor. Clams are so easy to grill, cook [...]
We’ve got a great fish market about 10 minutes from my house, Jordan Lobster Farms. If you are from the area you know the place, almost everyone does. I know if I am going to Jordan’s I am going to get a quality fish. Today was Tuna and Clams. Add in an ear of corn and [...]
It’s a comfort food. It’s a side dish for traditional barbeque. It’s a kids meal. It’s so many things and an all american dish with the earliest versions going back to colonial times. This “grown up” version uses Gruyer and Fontina for the cheese sauce instead of the more traditional cheddar but you can certainly change up [...]
Since I’ve started making pizza from scratch I’ve been playing around with many different toppings and types of pizza, usually focusing around the Neapolitan style or “round” pizza. Why not try combining two of my loves, love of pizza and love of barbecue? I’ve had pulled pork on pizza before, now lets try cooking the pizza on [...]
We are very big fans of pizza in my household. If you have read my blog you have also probably come to the conclusion that I am a very big fan of grilling as well. The first time I heard about grilled pizza was a few years ago. I was absolutely fascinated by the concept [...]
Having grown up in an Italian household there was only 1 type of sauce. Grandma’s recipe which Dad made every month or two. He took what seemed like a whole Sunday every couple of months to put together the sauce. There was a process that involved sausage bought at the sausage store, meatballs hand rolled, lots [...]
My next door neighbor Rich has been firing up his grill over the last couple of nights. One evening I happened to peek my head into his yard and ask what he was cooking. Chicken thighs was his reply. I haven’t had a chicken thigh in a while so I decided to fire up my [...]
One of the things that says summer best is pretty much anything on the grill. Hamburgers are probably at the top of almost anyone’s list when it comes to what you eat at a barbecue. What makes a burger better? Season the meat then Stuff it with delicious cheddar and crisp bacon. I got this [...]
A good friend of mine stopped by the other day while I was making pizza dough. “What’s in bread?” he asked me. I was amazed. He’s a highly intelligent highly successful individual who is inquisitive about how things are made in general and he didn’t know where this basic staple of most people’s diets comes [...]
I was trying to use up some miso paste I had left over so I started playing around with miso marinades. This one came out great, though was just a tad salty. Cutting back on the miso paste will help that. The edamame salad was snagged from Ruby Foos and found on Epicurious. The salad was tasty [...]
Ken and Patti Fisher from Date Night Doins recently did me the great honor of asking me to be a guest blogger on their site. While doing some research to make sure that they were legit – They are BTW – I came across this recipe which really caught my eye, a grilled blue cheese [...]
This one is going to be a really easy one. This is a simple way to give your garlic a whole new level of depth. Very easy and pretty quick you can use this garlic in a variety of recipes or just squeeze it out and use it as a spread on a tasty crusty [...]
Every once in a while I get on a kick to eat a bit healthier. This meal certainly qualifies. A light stir fry using small amounts of sesame oil, whole wheat soba noodles and miso marinated chicken with vegetables packs quite a flavorful punch. Ingredients Stir Fry Ingredients 1 lb chicken breast cubed and marinated [...]
I’m not a big fan of Banana’s. I feel like their flavor is overpowering and takes over everything that they are served with. I am trying to get over this. My wife informed me that we had some banana’s that were in need of use before they really went to seed so I looked up [...]
Growing up we had fish on a pretty regular basis. When you live on an island and can drive less than 10 minutes to the nearest store where the catch of the day literally was what had just come off the boat within the last couple of hours why wouldn’t you? It was inexpensive, tastes great [...]
After a long weekend of eating meat, meat and nothing but meat I decided we should try to be a bit healthier. My wife and I took the tot down to Jordan’s Lobster Farm and picked up some lemon sole, a dozen clams and a couple of ears of corn. What ensued was Pesto Sole, [...]
***Originally printed as a guest spot at http://www.datenightdoins.com/Pulled_Pork_Guest_Chef_Chri.html*** I like to smoke and BBQ food all year round but for many people nothing says Memorial day better than a good BBQ. In my opinion you don’t get better barbeque than pulled pork. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good brisket now and again but [...]
Ready to Go I had heard such great things about the iGrill temperature probe for grilling. It connects to your iphone wirelessly giving you data at your fingertips so you can use your phone to track your cooking. What a great concept and it is made to work with the iPhone so it must be great, [...]
For Cinco de Mayo we decided to make Ropa Vieja tacos. Yeah yeah, Ropa Vieja is cuban not Mexican but I’m Italian and my wife is Polish so we roll with it This came out GREAT. Slightly spicy, but not too much so (we had a small child try it and like it). Worked perfectly in a burrito shell with salsa, [...]
Many times my decision on what to make for dinner will stem from a single ingredient I might have in the fridge. In this case it was the Andouille sausage. I had a package I was interested in using and wanted to do something a little different with it. This is a little bit different [...]
