Olive Your Cooking

Super Late-Super Bowl

2012-03-05T05:35:00.000-08:00

It's here! The Super Bowl post. Yes, a month late...

First off, can I get a HOLLA for the Giants pulling out a Super Bowl win again?!
Okay okay, food time. I made a delicious little batch of items, and it was all pretty easy!

Chili
For the chili, I used the same recipe from last year. You can find it here. It was approved by party members all around. It's spicy...and bangin'.

Chocolate Covered Footballs
And by "footballs", I mean strawberries that look like footballs! I got this idea from Pinterest.

What You'll Need:
-1 package Milk Chocolate Chips
-2 dozen Strawberries
-Wax Paper
-White Piping Icing
So basically, you just need to melt a package of milk chocolate chips over a boiling pot of water, as you would when making regular chocolate covered strawberries. Once my strawberries were cleaned and the chocolate was fully melted, I dipped each into the chocolate and twisted it around until the strawberry was fully covered.

Transfer these to a tray covered with wax paper. Let these sit in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours. I recommend doing these the day before so you only have to worry about piping the strawberries with icing on the actual day.

Once they are cooled and ready to be piped, outline the edges in a circular pattern. Then, add a line down the middle and pipe 4 lines across in the other direction. Vuola-footballs!

Chocolate Covered Bananas with Peanut Butter
HOLY CRAP. These were like little bites of heaven. Seriously.

What you'll need:
-1 package Milk Chocolate Chips
-2 Bananas
-Peanut Butter
-Wax Paper

Melt a package of milk chocolate as you did above. Slice up a banana and cover each slice with a little dollop of peanut butter.

Using a fork as a lever, spoon the melted chocolate over the slice until it is fully covered and transfer to a tray covered with wax paper. Freeze for 6-8 hours and serve.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
So, for gluten free cupcakes, these were pretty good. My friend is vegan and has a whole book of gluten free cupcakes, so she sent me this recipe and I figured this would be a good opportunity to try it out.

What you'll need:
-1 cup Soy Milk
-1/2 cup Canola Oil
-3/4 cup Sugar
-2 tsp Vanilla Extract
-1/4 tsp Almond Extract
-1/4 cup Tapioca Flour
-2 tbsp ground Flax Seed
-1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
-1/2 cup White Rice Flour
-1/2 cup Quinoa Flour
-1 tsp Baking Powder
-1/2 tsp Baking Soda
-1/4 tsp Salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the Soy Milk, Canola Oil, Sugar, and Vanilla & Almond Extracts on medium speed to blend. Add the Tapioca Flour and Flax Seed to the bowl and mix on high for a minute or so. Add the Cocoa Powder, White Rice Flour, Quinoa Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, and Salt. Mix on medium-high for about 2-3 minutes, until everything is blended well.

Fill 12 cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way full, as these will not rise as much as normal cupcakes. Bake for 20-22 mins, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Once these have cooled, you can add your frosting. (I will post the recipe for the frosting in a bit.)

I also had a standard veggie platter and bought some sweet nose cups:

Oh yes.

Asparagus Gratin Deliciousness.

2012-01-25T17:14:00.000-08:00

Downside of today: No hip hop class because I'm sick.
Upside: You get a new recipe because I stayed home and cooked.

If you're anything like me, you're a firm believe that asparagus tastes like rubbery grass if cooked incorrectly. So, I cooked up an asparagus gratin with a twist, check it out:

What you'll need:
-1 1/2 pounds thin Asparagus
-3 cups Water
-2 tablespoons Butter
-2 tablespoons Flour (I used Rice Flour to substitute for the gluten)
-1 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
-1/2 cup Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
-Salt and Pepper

Start by boiling your 3 cups of water on medium to high heat. While you're waiting for your water to come to a boil, cut all the thick ends off of the asparagus. Once your water has boiled, add these ends to the water, cover, and boil for 5 mins.

You may want to take this opportunity to portion out the rest of your ingredients.

Remove the ends from the water with a slotted spoon and discard. Add the stalks to the water and boil on medium heat for about 4-6 mins, or until almost tender.

Place your asparagus in a broil-safe cooking dish. You may want to put down a paper towel first to soak up the water until you are ready to add to your dish.

Reserve one cup of water from the pot you were using to boil the asparagus; dump out the rest.

Add your butter to the now empty pot. Once it has melted, stir in your flour until the mixture turns a light brown, about one minute. Whisk in the reserved asparagus water and bring to a boil on low heat until thickened.

Remove from the heat and whisk in 1/2 of your parmesan and all of the monterey jack cheese. Stir until thick. Season with a dash of salt and pepper, cover, and let sit for 5 mins.

At this time, you can remove the paper towel and spread out the asparagus evenly in the dish. Top the asparagus with prosciutto. You can do this part however you want-I broke it up into pieces, but you can wrap it around your asparagus, or just layer it on top.

Not my best layering job...

Add your mixture to the dish, covering the asparagus, and top with the remaining parmesan cheese.

Broil it on high until the cheese turns golden brown and serve with a fruit salad or other side!

YUM!

The Best Gift I Ever Gave

2012-01-24T18:22:00.000-08:00

Now that the holidays have passed, it is easier to reflect and write about "Olive Your Cooking-A Godby Family Cookbook, Volume 1."

I always struggle with what to get my dad for Christmas, as he always asks for the same four things:

-Cooking tools
-Certificate to go get a massage
-Golf balls
-A Clive Cussler book

As you can imagine, this gets repetitive year after year. So this year I finally had an epiphany in early November that I could start crafting together a series of Godby Family Cookbooks, and this year would be the first. The book is a great collection of our own recipes, family photos, and memories. Here's a few pages and photos of the book-take a look for yourself! (Sorry for the picture quality-it truly doesn't do it justice.)

Now off to keep cooking for volume 2!

Healthy Recipe Overload and the Story of the Jalapeno Hand Crisis

2012-01-16T19:48:00.000-08:00

We've all seen or at least heard of "The Biggest Loser". But if you live under a rock, or are my best friend that lives in Taiwan and is completely detached from any modern day TV references every time that I mention one, the show is about a group of people who compete to lose the most amount of weight through diet and exercise. So, we are competing in a Biggest Loser challenge at work. It's optional, not sponsored by the company, lasts for 8 weeks, and begins today. I'm competing. This week's line-up? Zumba today, Boxing tomorrow, and Hip Hop on Wednesday. Bring it on, competition, because I'm gonna be bustin' a move like this grandma:

That being said, recipes for the next 8 weeks will be mainly gluten-free and healthy because I'm vowing to cut out gluten (minus a couple beers-let's be real here, people...St. Patrick's Day is coming up) and work out like a crazy person.

One thing that I love to eat is Guacamole. It's easy to make, delicious, and if you buy corn chips for dipping, you don't need to worry about gluten! Months ago, I made this guacamole recipe for the first time, and this is how the story of the Jalapeno Hand Crisis came to be.

I was making a pre-dinner appetizer. The guacamole recipe is quite easy to follow-the last thing I did was add the jalapeno. I diced it up, mixed together the ingredients, and threw it into the refrigerator to cool it.

Ten minutes later, I thought I had a paper cut on my pinkie that I had squeezed lime juice into, as it was stinging like crazy. I examined my finger and couldn't find any type of cut, but still tried to locate the source of the pain. Then, the pain traveled from my pinkie to my ring finger. And then to my middle finger. And then to my pointer finger. Before I knew it, my entire hand felt like I was holding it over an open flame. I called my dad and asked him about the jalapeno addition to the recipe. It was at this point that he laughed at me for being stupid enough to cut a jalapeno with my bare hands and told me I would have to stick it out until the pain went away. If any of you have ever made the mistake of cutting a jalapeno with your bare hands, you know that those words bring you no relief.

This is a list of items I attempted to put on my hands, or dip my hands in, in order to take away the pain:

-Butter
-Vaseline
-Nail Polish Remover
-Lemon Juice
-Sour Cream
-Lime Juice
-Hydrogen Peroxide
-Heavy Cream

The only thing that soothed the pain was leaving my hand in a glass of milk, which I proceeded to do, for the next 4 hours. It actually took THAT long for the pain to leave my hand. I read accounts where it lasted 24 hours for some people...so conclusively, WEAR GLOVES WHEN YOU CUT JALAPENOS.

90% of you probably already knew that, but in case you have the intelligence of a pine cone when it comes to cooking with peppers like myself, don't say I didn't warn you.

What you'll need:
-3 Avocados, peeled, seeded, chopped
-1/2 White Onion, chopped finely
-1 Garlic Clove, minced
-1/2 Jalapeno, seeded, chopped finely
-1 Lime, squeezed (2 tsp)
-1/4 cup Cilantro, minced
-Salt and Pepper to taste

Mash the avocado with a fork in a medium sized bowl. Add all the other ingredients and mix. Cool and serve!

Reese's...the Cupcake Kind

2012-01-13T14:16:00.000-08:00

I have recently become a bit of a Cupcake Queen, to the point where I am finally starting to understand the science of what goes into making a great cupcake. I've been going back and forth about whether or not to post these recipes, as this blog is mainly about cooking, but I've decided to roll with it and add the baking, plus all things food-related. Deal with it.

That being said, I made the most bangin' cupcakes last night! Chocolate cupcakes with a Peanut Butter Cream Cheese frosting, topped with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Oh yes.

What you'll need:
(Chocolate Cupcakes)
-2 cups Sugar
-1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
-3/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa
-1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
-1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
-1 tsp Salt
-2 Eggs
-1 cup Whole Milk
-1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
-2 tsp Vanilla Extract
-1 cup Boiling Water

What you'll need:
(Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting-http://www.yourcupofcake.com/2010/11/peanut-butter-and-banana-cupcakes.html)
-8 oz. Cream Cheese
-4 tbsp Butter, softened
-1/2 cup creamy Peanut Butter
-3 cups powdered Confectioner's Sugar
-1/4 cup Heavy Cream
-Reese's mini Peanut Butter Cups

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the Sugar, Flour, Cocoa, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, and Salt. Add the Eggs, Milk, and Vanilla, and beat on medium speed for 1-2 mins. Stir in the boiling water.

It is important to note that at this point, your batter will look very watery. DO NOT PANIC. It's supposed to look like this. I poured my batter into a measuring cup with a spout so I could easily pour it into the cupcake liners. Fill 24 cupcake liners about 2/3 full with the batter. Bake at 350 for about 20-25 mins, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While your cupcakes are baking, you can get started on your frosting. Beat the cream cheese and butter together until mixed well. Add the peanut butter and let it sit for 2 mins. Add the Confectioner's Sugar and Heavy Cream and beat well until smooth and light.

Once your cupcakes have cooled, ice each, top with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and serve. These were an absolute hit in my office-gone by lunch time!

Bruschetta Chicken with Cucumber Salad

2012-01-11T14:15:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

As we roll into the new year, you're probably one of the hundreds of people flooding the gym this week, with aspirations that this is going to be the year they finally get their high school body back! Let's be real. This lasts about 2 weeks, maybe 4 if you're lucky, and then the early onset of Valentine's Day candy sends you plummeting right back to your acceptance of being a fat kid for life. But while you're on a temporary resolution high, try out this healthy and easy-to-make meal.

What you'll need (Bruschetta Chicken):
-4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
-2 Plum Tomatoes, finely chopped
-1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese
-1/4 cup freshly chopped Basil
-Balsamic Vinegar
-Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-Salt and Pepper

What you'll need (Cucumber Salad):
-1/2 cup Sour Cream
-2 tablespoons fresh Lemon Juice
-2 tablespoons chopped, fresh Dill
-4 Cucumbers
-Salt and Pepper

Clean your chicken breasts and coat with a dash of salt and pepper. Grill the breasts on a medium temperature until they are cooked all the way through.

While your chicken is cooking, combine the tomatoes, cheese, and basil in a small bowl. Add Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil to taste, almost 1/4 cup. Add Salt and Pepper to taste. This will be the topping for your chicken.

Now you can get started on your Cucumber Salad. Whisk together the Sour Cream, Lemon Juice, and Dill. Add the cucumbers and toss to coat. Add Salt and Pepper to taste and toss to coat.

By now, your chicken should be grilled all the way through. Add the Bruschetta topping to your chicken and serve!

Chicken Sriracha Surprise

2011-08-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

So, I have attempted recently to be a bit more on the healthy side, but there's only so many days I can eat chicken breast in a row before wanting to run right back to the happy land of pasta. Chicken parm, chicken with asparagus, chicken marsala....over, and over, and over again. Not to mention, the chicken breast is the hardest to cook. Those of you who are thinking that chicken is by far the easiest thing to cook-hear me out: there's a special in between that you have to reach to get it just perfect...typically, I end up screwing this up and having very dry chicken. Yeah, I'm bad at the chicken breast thing.

After all this boredom and carb cravings, I came across this great recipe for pan roasted chicken that blew my mind with it's simplicity and tastiness. I am here to share this with you, as well as a pretty awesome cucumber, tomato, and feta salad:

What you'll need (chicken thighs):

-6 skin-on, bone-in Chicken Thighs (about 2 and 1/4 pounds)

-Salt and Pepper

-1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

What you'll need (thigh glaze):

-2 tbsp Drippings from the skillet of chicken (once completely cooked)

-1 tbsp Sriracha
-2 tbsp Brown Sugar
-1 tbsp Minced Cilantro

-Half a Lime

What you'll need (salad):

-6 cups coarsely chopped Cucumbers
-2 large Tomatoes, coarsely chopped

-1 bunch Scallions, chopped

-1 7 oz. package Feta, crumbled

-1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh Mint

-6 tbsp extra virgin Olive Oil

-1/4 cup fresh Lemon juice

-Salt and Pepper

Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Begin by cleaning your chicken and then seasoning it with salt and pepper, making sure to cover the whole surface.

Heat the vegetable oil in a cast-iron or nonstick skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking. Place the chicken into the skillet, skin side down, and cook for 2 minutes.

Lower the heat to medium heat and continue cooking skin side down. Rotate the chicken clockwise in pan to evenly distribute heat, until fat renders and skin is golden brown, about 12 minutes.

Transfer the skillet to the oven and cook for 13 more minutes. Flip the chicken and continue cooking until the skin is crispy and the meat is cooked through, about 5 minutes longer.

While you are cooking your chicken, you can prepare your salad. Combine the cucumbers, tomatoes, scallions, half of the feta, and mint into a large salad bowl. The oil and lemon juice will make up your dressing-grab a small bowl or tupperware and whisk the oil and lemon juice together; season the dressing with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat; add a little more salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the remaining feta over the salad.

Terrible lighting, but delicious salad! :o)

You should now be ready to extract the chicken from the oven and transfer to a plate.

Now you're ready to create your glaze. Grab a small bowl and combine the skillet drippings, Sriracha, brown sugar, cilantro, and juice to half a lime. Mix these all together and let it sit for a minute.

Add as little or as much of the glaze as you would like and you are ready to serve!

Comfort Food

2011-05-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love a good bowl of hot macaroni and cheese? Ahh, comfort food.

I wasn't allowed to eat that "Kraft crap" as my dad called it, but he sure did make a damn good version of his macaroni and cheese. It put Kraft and Velveeta to shame....then again, so do most homemade mac and cheese recipes.

I went through a large Velveeta phase in college with my roommate, Amy. We would stock up on boxes of "Velveets" as we called it, and house it every time we had a few too many drinks in us. We were also poor college students and could only afford 99 cent Velveeta. If you ever had Velveeta, then you know that the grossest thing is the cheese mixture they give you. That prepackaged, gooey cheese mixture:

EW. Like, what is in that?! It was nauseating as you squeezed it out, but we added a little bit of pepper to it to make it seem a bit more legit. There were actually times that I made the Velveeta and then couldn't eat it because I became too overwhelmed by the thought of the production process of the cheese package.

So, it's time to skip out on 99 cent boxes, and spend a few more bucks to make a dish that is not only more delightful, but easy to make.

What you'll need:
-8 oz. Elbow Macaroni
-2 tablespoons Butter
-8 oz. of graded Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
-2 cups Milk
-2 tablespoons Flour
-1/2 teaspoon Salt
-1/2 teaspoon Ground Pepper
-1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Prepare the Macaroni as you normally would or as the package instructions say.

While you're cooking your macaroni, in medium to low heat, melt the butter in a somewhat large sauce pan. Once the butter is melted, begin to pour in the flour, whisking constantly. Whisk for about 2 minutes, until the liquid is smooth. Again, whisking constantly, add the milk and continue to cook for five minutes until your mixture has thickened. Remove the saucepan from heat and add in the salt, black and red pepper, and 1 cup of your shredded cheese. I was out of red pepper so I added the TINIEST pinch of cayenne pepper to give it a kick. Then add the cooked macaroni and mix together.

Spoon your mixture into a 2 quart baking dish; sprinkle on the additional cheese and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. I baked it for 18 minutes and then broiled it for the remaining two minutes as I like to have it be a little crispy on top! Let it sit for a few minutes and then it's ready to serve! Yum!

http://s4.hubimg.com/u/72967_f520.jpg

National Harbor 2011 Wine & Food Festival

2011-04-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

So I know my traditional blog posts are about recipes and past stories paralleling them, but I figured this blog could also be a way to share events, shows, articles, anything really obtaining to the food industry and those of you who are interested in culinary art.

If you live in the DC/NOVA area, you might want to check out the National Harbor's 2011 Wine & Food Festival. This is my first year attending so I don't know what to expect, but I've been to an event before in the same location put on by the same agency and it was run very well and lots of fun!

So what can you expect to do/see at this event? Here's a little run down of what I got off the site:

-It's an all you can taste event. You pay $35 if you buy your tickets in advance online...so with that you get a complimentary glass that you can take to every tent and taste.
-Live Music. Enough said. You really can't go wrong with this. It also says "entertainers"...I'm not sure what exactly this means...
-Chefs from all over-these means local or famous....it sounds like they're doing meet and greets, but I'm really hoping they'll do some demos as well

All in all, it sounds like a pretty sweet event and I will definitely be in attendance! There's also a lot of places to eat and hotels to stay in surrounding the harbor, so if you're planning on using your complimentary glass to it's fullest, I recommend checking those out ;o).

Here's the site for more information:
http://www.wineandfoodnh.com/

I'm Really Glad there's One of You on Our Team

2011-02-08T07:16:00.000-08:00

The perfect Superbowl meal: a hot bowl of chili. Now how this recipe came to me is an interesting story in itself, but I'll leave most of it to your imagination, mainly because attempting to duplicate and recap the events that occurred would be impossible.

The night I first tasted this chili was at a "party" (5 people) in the midst of snowpocolypse 2010. This night was filled with four things: awkward advances, a silent (yet not so subtle) text fight, uncomfortable stories about road trips, and a cat named Toes.

At one point, mind you, I'm about five beers deep, I went downstairs to use the restroom. I closed the door, turn around, and Toes is IN THE BATHTUB, STARING ME DOWN. Please, take a moment and try and picture yourself in this situation. You're in a relaxed kind of buzz, in a strange apartment with Valentine's Day paraphernalia everywhere (hint much?), just taking a break to go to the bathroom before getting back to extreme board gaming. You turn around, expecting to see some candles or normal bathroom decoration and you get this:

I IZ WATCHING YOU! I HAZ THE CHILIZ!

At least obtaining the chili recipe was a success.

What you'll need:

-2 lbs. lean Ground Meat (turkey/chicken/hamburger)

-4 cloves of Garlic, sliced

-1 medium White or Yellow Onion

-1 Green Bell Pepper

-1 Red Bell Pepper

-2 Jalapenos, diced

-2 cans Tomato Paste + 2 cans of Water (I think the size is 14 oz., but it's the regular sized can)

-2 cans Whole Tomatoes; you'll want to slice these in half, but save the juice

-3-4 cans Red Kidney Beans rinsed

-1 tbsp Olive Oil

-1-2 tbsp Cayenne Pepper

-1-2 tbsp Ancho Chili Powder

-1-2 tbsp Cumin

-1 tbsp Cinnamon

-Salt and pepper to taste

Begin by prepping your ingredients. Dice the pepper, jalapeno, garlic, and onion. Once these are set aside, combine all the spices into one bowl.

Mix it on up.

All prepped!

Brown the meat in skillet and season with about half of the spice mixture.

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Begin adding all your diced vegetables and saute for about 2 mins.

Once sauteed, add the kidney beans and saute another 1-2 mins. Feel free to add a little more Olive Oil at this point if need be. Add tomato paste and tomatoes and continue to mix.

At this point, the meat should be browned and you can go ahead and add it to the mixture, along with water and the remaining spices. Keep this simmering at a low heat and stir occasionally. You're all set! Feel free to add more spices to taste, as well as a Mexican cheese mixture, and eat this on a cold day in the next snopocolypse!

Significantly better than the Black Eyed Peas Half Time show.

And a special thanks to the awkward night, and amusing group of individuals, without whom, this post would be impossible; here's lookin' at you, Hallmark desperados. One love, from your snorting friend.

Broccoli > Carrots

2010-12-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

Have you ever started cooking something, and you can't really pinpoint exactly what the dish will end up tasting like? That's how I felt about this dish, and it ended up surprising me with it's charm. This broccoli and cauliflower gratin can be done with or without the pasta...my preference, with! (Duh...I studied in Italy. A meal isn't complete without carb city.)

What you'll need:
-1 small head of Broccoli, trimmed into florets
-1 small head of Cauliflower, trimmed into florets
-2 cups Sour Cream
-1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
-1/3 cup Chives, finely chopped
-2 cloves of Garlic, peeled and grated or crushed into paste
-Salt
-Freshly Ground Black Pepper
-2 1/2 cups Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese
-1 pound Penne Pasta

Preheat your oven at 375 degrees. Begin by boiling a large pot of water over medium heat. Salt the water and add the broccoli and cauliflower florets. Boil these bad boys for about 5 minutes, and then remove them with a strainer and drain. Once out of the pot, go ahead and start boiling the pasta in the same water until al dente. In the mean time, combine the sour cream in a large bowl along with the mustard, chives, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. You can now add your pasta and cauliflower and about 2/3 of the cheese. Stir to combine everything and then transfer to a pyrex or other baking dish. Cover with the remaining cheese and bake for about 40-45 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.

CHEESEEE

And while you're waiting...

My dad sent me this recipe for Broccoli and Cauliflower Gratin and it brought back warm memories of eating broccoli at our kitchen counter in NJ. I used to beg for broccoli...what kind of kid BEGS for broccoli?? Me...apparently. Carrots, on the other hand, I was not so fond of.

During one specific dinner, when I was about 12, I was struggling with the consumption of my carrots. There were three baby carrots left in front of me, staring me down like they were Chuck Norris and I was about to get a roundhouse kick to the face. What, I ask, is so appealing about mushy, orange, cooked carrots that have the texture of baby food? Nothing, in my opinion. But on this night, it was not my opinion that mattered but my father's.

"Jessica, you're going to sit at the table until all your carrots are finished; you're not going anywhere until I see them consumed."

Everyone had already gotten up and was done with dinner, while I was left there in shame with my three pathetic carrots. I attempted every excuse in my power to get out of it.

"But I'm full!"
"But Katie had less carrots than me!"
"But I heard if you plant carrots in the ground, it's supposed to be good for the soil..."

Nothing worked. I looked up and my father was washing the dishes, passing time while he waited on my plate. So I decided to do what any innocent, well behaved child would do. I waited for my dad to turn his back, chewed the carrots for about 5 seconds, spit them into my napkin, crumpled it up and put it next to my plate.

"DONE!"

I was so impressed with myself; I had outsmarted papa bear! You couldn't even see the orange mush through the crumpled up napkin...WIN!

Boy, was I a dumbass. (Excuse my French, but I was.)

Upon examining my plate, he saw right through my not-so-clever tactics. My night ended with 6 more freshly cooked carrots (oh yes, he doubled the original amount). I also received the pleasant task of finishing the carrots that I had hidden in the napkin...yes, the ones I had already CHEWED AND SPIT OUT. Yay, mush-tastic delight.

But what does this have to do with today's recipe? Absolutely nothing! Except that cauliflower=broccoli > carrots!

So once your dish is finished baking, take it out of the oven and let it cool for a couple minutes. I set aside some extra grated cheese in case I wanted to add more to my plate. This dish was easy to make and delightful! I even got my friend to eat this and he hates broccoli...just sayin'.

Couldn't get a pic till halfway through; we were hungry!

Warming Fall Zuppa

2010-11-12T10:33:00.000-08:00

Many of you, like myself, have probably discovered the phenomenon that is broccoli cheddar soup. Especially Panera's version. So when my dad said he had a recipe for it last week, I nearly fell off my chair. Here's a simple dish for those cold Fall days where all you want is a bowl of soup:

What you'll need:

-1 head of broccoli or 2 broccoli crowns

-1 container of chicken broth

-2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese

-3 table spoons of flour

-4 table spoons of butter

-1 onion chopped

-1 chicken bullion cube

-1 cup of milk

-Pepper

-Nutmeg

Clean the broccoli and cut into pieces. Save some of the florets for adding later if you want. In a large pot, sauté the chopped up onion in 2 table spoons of butter. Add the broccoli and the chicken broth. Make sure there is enough broth to cover the broccoli. Add the chicken bullion cube and pepper. Bring to a boil and lower heat until the broccoli is cooked, about 10-15 minutes.

In a sauce pan, heat 2 table spoons of butter, add the flour and cook until the flour starts to bubble and turns light brown. Add the milk and whisk in until it thickens. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until all of the broccoli is liquid in form. Add some of this liquid to the milk mixture to thin and then pour this into the soup. Bring to a boil and add the cheese. You can also add the florets here if you kept leftovers! Continue to stir until the soup is thick and the cheese is melted. Season with salt and pepper and nutmeg and you're done!

Unfortunately, my camera died when I had already started cooking, so here's a picture I found online that was the closest to what mine actually looked like, yummo:

http://www.foodonthebrain.net/2009/02/17/broccoli-cheddar-soup/

A Story

2010-11-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

One day after middle school, I headed through the back screen door of our home in Holland Township, NJ. My dad was whisking something in a bowl and I asked him what was for dinner. He held up some form of drenched meat and declared, "baby chickens." Not phased, I went upstairs and started my homework.

"GIRLS-IT'S DINNER TIME!"

My sister and I barreled down the stairs to fight over the best seat at the counter. No one liked the end chairs at our house-one was next to the door and you would either a. get continuously hit with the door by people walking in and out, or b. have to get out of your chair every 5 minutes and close and open the door for the dog.

Plopped down in front of us were these decadent looking chicken legs drenched in a sauce comparable to a barbecue-type dressing, laid over a bed of rice. Upon first bite, I concluded that baby chicken legs were the best thing I had ever tasted in my 13 years of life. Why had dad never made these before? Seemed like a simple dish and it tasted like someone bottled happiness in a jar and then spilled it onto my plate.

Salivating, I pleaded for more. When all the legs were gone, I took my pointer finger and picked up the rest of the sauce off my plate and licked it clean, rocking back in forth in my swivel chair with utter glee. As I was doing so, my father called my mother who was on her way home from work. They chatted as per usual, and then my father interrupted, "Rose...you'll never guess what your girls just ate."

Katie (my sister) and I exchanged suspicious looks.

"...They're licking their plates clean too..."

Seriously dad? Out of all the different stuff you've made us try and you're bragging about baby chickens...

"FROGS' LEGS!"

My swivel chair came to an immediate halt. No...the horror. Please no. NO. For the love of God, you are joking, dad. (insert whimpering sound here)

I looked out the back door at our pond and I could hear all the frogs ribbiting around me, upset that I had just barbarically devoured their cousins. It was like one of those scenes you see in movies where the protagonist is stuck in a hallucinogenic-type mode where there is a white orb around his/her head with items dancing around in a clock-wise motion. My orb contained frogs, ribbiting sounds, and dry heaving.

I think Katie must have had a similar orb experience because the look of absolute terror on her face matched my own. It was at this moment that we bolted back up the stairs and made a mad dash for our bathroom. We used up a half a tube of toothpaste, and I very clearly remember 4 cups of mouthwash to get the taste of panic out of my mouth. I can't explain the amount of extreme toothbrushing that went on and I attempted to find you a video to demonstrate said chaos, but I could only find an annoying guy screaming while brushing his teeth. The volume at which this man was yelling might deafen you and cause you to never read my blog again, so instead I provide you with something far more calming and interesting to look at:

And that's how I ended up getting tricked into eating frogs' legs. The End.

Syrup On A Fish

2010-10-19T08:09:00.000-07:00

Maple glazed group for two, ladies and gentlemen-that's today's recipe!

A Sunday at Harris Teeter could not produce fresh Grouper Filet so I had to settle for Corvina Filet instead. The guy behind the fish counter told me that this was the closest thing to Grouper, but he kind of explained in a way that said "I'm going to tell you this is the closest thing to Grouper, but I really don't know, but I really don't want to go ask somebody, so I'm hoping that you just cook your fish and it turns out tasty anyways." I took the risk with the Corvina.

My version was tasty, but I recommend doing your best to find fresh Grouper first! The following is my dad's recipe:

What you'll need:
-2/3 Ib of Grouper Filet
-2 tablespoons maple syrup
-3 tablespoons olive oil
-Salt & Pepper
-Fresh Sage julienned (be generous with the Sage)

Clean fish thoroughly. Salt and pepper fish and rub on sage, maple syrup and 1 table spoon of oil. Marinade for 1 hour.

Heat 2 table spoons of oil in pan and sear fish 3-4 minutes on each side. Pour any left over liquid in the pan during the last 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

Serve with a nice glass of bubbly and a couple sides. We went simple with some couscous and a salad, but dad provided a great suggestion by using baked sweet potato and garlic string beans for the sides. If you'd like to make the garlic string beans, just get 2 servings of blanched string beans, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 almond slivers, and two tablespoons of olive oil. Mix all ingredients in a frying pan and heat through on high heat. Enjoy!

This One Goes Out To You, Veggies

2010-10-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, I never had a problem with eating vegetables, and then I tried string beans from the school cafeteria...

I would compare the taste of said string beans to what I imagine it would taste like to eat rubber bands coated in nail polish remover. They smelled like medical instruments. My reaction pretty much went something like this:

After this experience, I came to the realization that not everyone knows how to cook vegetables the right way. Now I have made it a mission to prove to the world (and children like the above) that veggies can taste delicious! So dad sent me this recipe for eggplant parm. I don't even like eggplant and I LOVED this dish. So veggie haters, give it a try anyways; I can promise you'll be pleasantly surprised.

What you'll need:
-2 medium sized eggplants (the large ones tend to get very bitter)
-8 oz. of fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
-1/4 cup of grated parmesan reggiano
-Homemade marinara (see below)

Begin by thinly slicing the eggplant into 1/8" slices; thin slices is going to be the key to this recipe. Lay out the slices on a paper towel and sprinkle salt on them. Once you have salted all slices, let the eggplant sit for about 30 mins or more to release their moisture.

While you're waiting on your eggplant, you can get started on the homemade marinara sauce:

What you'll need:
-1 16 oz. can of Muir Glen whole plum tomatoes
-1/2 chopped onion
-3 cloves of crushed garlic
-1 teaspoon of raw sugar
-1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
-1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
-1/2 a beef buillon cube

Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until it's translucent. Cut the plum tomatoes up before putting them into the pan. Add the liquid from the container. Then, add all the other ingredients and stir. Cover the mixture and cook for about 20 mins on a low temperature, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and finish crushing the tomatoes with an immersion blender if you own one. I just used a fork...I'm not advanced enough for an immersion blender yet. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper and your marinara should be set! The homemade marinara is so worth it-I was licking my plate clean to say the least.

The onions should probably be cut smaller than this, but it still tasted awesome!

By now your eggplant should be ready. You will be able to see the droplets of moisture on top of each slice like the following:

Begin heating a frying pan on medium heat with canola oil glazing the bottom, about 1/4". Canola oil is preferred, but olive oil will work as well. Place your slices of eggplant onto the pan and fry until they are golden brown.

Pancakes?

You'll want to have a plate with a couple paper towels on it ready so you can transfer the slices once you are done. The paper towels will absorb the excess oil.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Once you have fried all your slices, you'll be ready to prepare your dish. Spread 3 tablespoons of sauce on the bottom of the pan.

Yes, it's really only that much.

Start layering the eggplant, followed by the cheese. The order should be: eggplant, mozarella, parmesan reggiano, repeat. Continue this process until you have used up all the eggplant, and be generous with the cheese for the last layer!

Bake this dish for 15 mins, and finish under the broiler for a couple mins to lightly brown the cheese. In Italian, this dish is called melanzane parmeggiano. My dad and I were lucky enough to try this dish first hand prepared by my Sicilian Aunt Teresa in Sciacca, Sicily. While you're waiting for your dish to bake, here's a little history from dad:

"Sicily is a country that was invaded by countless cultures over 10,000 years and with each inhabitant was left a piece of culture that influenced the foods they eat today. Most of the island is used for farming and citrus fruits top the list of fresh produce. Olive trees and grape vines also dot the landscape as well as cattle, sheep and poultry farms. We visited a friend's farm and I was overwhelmed by the size of the broccoli heads growing in their fields. The tempered climate and fertile soil help to produce these larger than life fruits and vegetables that have only heightened the taste rather than diminished. My Aunt and Uncle made several dishes each day so that we could experience the taste of their local cuisines during our short 4 day stay. One of the dishes we were treated to was the eggplant parmesan, similar to our traditional parmesan only by name. The dish used very thinly sliced, fried eggplant with fresh mozzarella and parmesan cheese dotted with fresh marinara. The sweetness of the eggplant and the creaminess of the fresh mozzarella is what makes this dish so delicious."

View from Sciacca

Once you have finished, you can add the rest of the sauce to the top and serve fresh with a salad or other appetizing side!

OMGEEZZZ...this picture does zero justice to how good this actually turned out.

Buon appetito!

Wok and Roll

2010-10-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had to clean a Wok properly? Apparently I bought the proper type of Wok; however, they are kind of a pain to clean because you have to make sure you get the lacquers off before you can even use the thing. I followed the directions on my Wok: heat 1/4 cup cooking oil in the wok until it starts smoking...then, scrub your wok with steel wool using a wooden spoon while it's heating over the stove:

My God, I'm artsy.

Appetizing...I know.

Everything was going fine and dandy until I lifted my wok, proud as ever to find...

ABOH???!!!

GAH. I'm still trying to get this off my stove. What is it? Great question. I'm still figuring that out...

My advice? Check the bottom of your wok when you start heating it to make sure this isn't occurring underneath...and conclusively, if you're going to purchase a proper wok, don't say I didn't warn you.

But let's be for real...you're not here to listen to me vent about my wok debacle; you're here for the deliciousness! Last night's recipe-Chicken Stir Fry!

What you'll need:
-1 boneless, skinless chicken breast...or 2 breasts depending on how much chicken you want and what size the breasts are
-1/4 of a red bell pepper, diced
-4 cloves of garlic
-3 scallions, sliced on a bias
-1 carrot julienned
-1 small zucchini julienned
-Some asparagus cut up into 1" pieces
-1 small bag of Udon noodles cooked

If you don't have a wok, a regular pan will do. Before you even start cooking, portion out all your vegetables ahead of time; the prep work takes about as long, if not longer than the cooking itself.

Asparagus, zucchini, scallions, garlic, carrots, red bell pepper

Now, I'm one of those people that's an absolute freak about cleaning chicken for fear I will get poisoned or something. Everyone knows how to clean chicken, but my ritual is to wash it in cold water, then cut it up into long strips (you'll want it sliced thin for this recipe), and lastly dip it in lemon juice. The lemon juice is supposed to eliminate bacteria with it's acidity-I'm not entirely sure how much of that is true, but it helps me sleep knowing that I've "properly" cleaned the chicken.

Start heating your wok with about a tablespoon of oil. Once your chicken is cleaned and sliced you can throw it into the wok and start cooking it at medium temperature. Dad says to add one piece at a time so that they don't stick together. I just threw 'em all in and then separated them with my tongs.

Bam!

As they are cooking, season with salt and pepper. Please feel free to get a handful of the salt/pepper at this point and pull an Emeril Lagasse, yelling "BAM!" When they are done, separate them onto a clean plate.

Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to the now empty wok and throw in your carrots and asparagus, stirring for about 2 mins. Add the bell pepper, garlic, and noodles to the wok and cook for 1 min. Add the remaining ingredients and stir fry for 1 min. Take that plate of chicken you put aside and add that to the wok, along with about a tablespoon of soy sauce. I personally like a little more soy sauce (2 tablespoons), so feel free to add as much as you would like.

Stir fry so that everything is mixed together and lastly, add sesame seeds! (You can yell "BAM!" when you throw those in too...it will make your guests think you're more legit.)

Le finished product!

Dad says: "Can you feel the love? This dish will warm your soul and keep you healthy!"
I say: "Bring on the soy sauce."

Simple Pear, Gorgonzola, & Craisin Salad

2010-09-28T18:58:00.000-07:00

So I don't think this really counts as a legit post, but I just threw together a pretty bangin' salad so I thought I'd share.

What you'll need:
-Romaine lettuce, or mixed greens of your preferences
-1-2 pears
-Craisins (dried cranberries)
-A couple of ounces of gorgonzola cheese
-Balsamic Vinaigrette

Throw the base Romaine into a bowl. Cut up the pears into small pieces. If you're only making the salad for one, a pear to a pear and a half should be sufficient. If you can find fresh craisins, props to you. I just bought the cheap-o grocery store version from Ocean Spray. With the Gorgonzola, crumble the cheese into the bowl, but make sure the crumbles are tiny or you will end up with big chunks in your salad which can be too much.

Toss with Balsamic Vinaigrette or your choice of dressing and you're done!

Simple, tasty, and takes 5 mins to throw together. If you want to add grilled chicken or spiced pecans as well, it would probably give an added kick!

More accredited post coming this week....I swear.

Le History

2010-09-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog-Olive Your Cooking!

So Papa bear (dad) and I have been throwing around the idea of writing a cookbook, so I thought this might be a great way to showcase some recipes and and log my chaotic attempts at becoming a respectable chef. He sends me recipes and I get to try them, adding and tweaking them as I go and writing about it. We're just like Julie and Julia...but Mark and Jess:

You should always dress like this when you cook!

Lobsters are terrifying.

Yes I used FACEinHOLE...I don't have photoshop; don't judge me. Julia looks good with Mark's beard.

I grew up in a household where the kitchen was the center of everything, just as the logic is in Italy. I know what good cooking looks like, and more importantly, tastes like. If you've been to the Godby household, you've likely spent more time at the kitchen counter than in the rest of the house, and have been bombarded by my dad to talk culinary expertise at least once or twice. I'm consistently impressed with his dishes that I like to call "savory art" and am on a mission to achieve some level of this success in my own kitchen.

Okay, maybe I'm bragging a little bit....but seriously, it's good.

So keep a lookout; you've got some good recipes rolling your way soon, complete with my take on them. Be sure to leave feedback if you decide to try cooking any yourself-I'd love to get your input and maybe you have some great suggestions to offer as well, so don't be afraid to comment.

Here's to my feeble attempts at becoming a quality future housewife! Expect the first recipe this week :).