What's That Supposed To Mean?

A Folly Beach Vacay

2021-09-20T22:22:00.002-04:00

We’re fresh back from our long weekend at Folly Beach and can’t tell you how badly it was needed! Mike and I had been a few years ago and went this time with our friends and we all had a blast!

We stayed at this awesome AirBnb that was centrally located on the island, so walking distance from nearby everything! The decor at this place was also really neat (as my buddy demonstrates in the photo above).

First stop - the beach! The water was still so incredibly warm!

We did takeout for dinner the first night so we could stay in and watch the Thursday night game and relax after the long drive.

Unfortunately (but not really) the wait for our pizza was over and hour, so Amanda and I walked around and treated ourselves to some Pineapple Hut pineapple whip! We also picked up some boiled peanuts on our adventure - because what’s a trip South without some boiled peanuts??

Dinner was definitely worth the wait! We got pizzas and salad from Woody’s and the prosciutto with feta and mushroom was killer!

Got up the next morning with Amanda and we walked the dog and saw an incredible sunrise!

We spent the day at the beach and then it was home for dinner and Nick’s famous mac and cheese! Which the boys clearly enjoyed.

The next day was a sunnier day at the beach so we packed some snacks but tried Chico Feo for lunch - I had half a Cuban and some mahi-mahi tacos! Delicious!

Another stop at the Pineapple Hut - tried the pineapple and raspberry twist this time!

And a post-dinner stroll on the beach where we found these pieces of conch shells!

Sunset with the pier in the background - unfortunately it was under construction when we were there and won’t be done until sometime next year.

Then we made our absolutely necessary stop at Black Magic Cafe on our way out of town. I had the iced mocha with the fried chicken biscuit (biscuit, sausage gravy, fried chicken, sriracha honey and runny egg) and a side of cheesy grits. YUM!

It was a quick, but much needed vacation! If you haven’t been to Folly, you must!

Discard Zucchini Bread

2021-08-20T20:57:00.004-04:00

Never have I ever made zucchini bread… and now I can’t stop!

We had a baking contest at work and the challenge was to make muffins with a squash element, so of course I had to involve some discard! I found a recipe from Little Home In The Making and it’s definitely a keeper. I adapted it a little bit to add some more seasonal spices and it came out yummmmy!

You Will Need:

2 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1 pinch ground cloves

1 pinch ground nutmeg

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable/canola oil

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup sourdough discard

2 cups grated zucchini, squeezed of moisture (see notes below)

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F and grease two loaf pans (or whatever you’re baking in - I had enough batter to make a dozen muffins and fill a Bundt pan).

Grate your zucchini and measure out 2 cups. Place it in a strainer with a shallow plate underneath to catch liquid. Massage the zucchini and let it sit while you prepare the rest of the batter.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. Whisk to combine.

In a large bowl, add eggs, oil, white and brown sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until creamy and smooth. Add discard and whisk until incorporated.

Squeeze excess moisture out of zucchini. If more than 1/2 cup of liquid remains, discard 1/2 cup of liquid and pour remaining liquid into batter.

Add in grated zucchini and walnuts and fold until just combined - over mixing will result in a dry crumb!

Bake for 55-75 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test.

Zucchini grated - I used a pretty big grater and liked that you could see the zucchini in it after it baked.

Dry ingredients all mixed together.

Wet ingredients before adding in discard.

Walnuts and zucchini going in!

Batter in the Bundt pan - because I was baking in a pretty intricate Bundt pan, I sprayed it with oil and then dusted it with flour before pouring the batter in for a hopefully smooth release.

And yay! We have a smooth release!

After it came out of the oven, I let it rest at room temp for 10 minutes before I flipped it and released it from the pan. This worked perfectly and left no cake behind! I also dusted it with powdered sugar for looks.

You’ll definitely enjoy this one! It’s got a tender crumb and is perfect with a cup of coffee!

Sourdough and Pandemics

2021-08-14T15:42:00.002-04:00

I get paid to be an extrovert and a “professional,” but at heart I’m an introvert and a baker, so throughout this pandemic I’ve really been thriving. Luckily, we’ve gotten through it so far without getting sick (knock on wood), I’ve enjoyed extra time home with the kitties and have been making lots and lots of bread!

It all started when I purchased a Sourdough Kit from a local bakery that was selling them during the pandemic - but really all you need to start is some dehydrated sourdough starter (you can find lots online - or I can send you some!) and a few different flours. I started by using their recipe - a combo of bread, rye and whole wheat flours, then found others to try with different ratios and then the rest was history! Once I got the basic loaf down, I’ve been making bread almost weekly and all sorts of bread.

Made some cheesy loaves:

Fougasse:

You get the idea - I’ve also started an Instagram page to document my bakes and hopefully inspire others to try it!

Find me over at jojbakingthings!

A Life Update!

2021-08-11T22:42:00.001-04:00

I owe you at least that after a three year hiatus.

A lot's happened, but in summary I've cooked and baked and eaten a lot and one evening in November (while watching a YouTube video of a guy feeding raccoons hot dogs) I got engaged.

And then in December, we decided to just take a half day at work and get married at a courthouse and then had dinner at the diner we shared our first meal at and it was perfection.

Oh, and I made lots and lots of bread and pizza and more bread. That about sums up the past couple of years, and now I'm hoping to be back with more food for ya!

Missed you guys! And here is that video of the raccoons aka trash pandas. It really is incredible. Try to watch it and NOT want to propose to somebody...

Copy Cat Chicken Noodle Soup

2018-09-25T18:24:00.000-04:00

So I've fallen ill with a cold and I was craving some Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup. The only thing is, being 32 now makes you think twice about shoveling all of that sodium into your gullet.

Internet to the rescue! I found a copy-cat recipe and was super happy with the results!

The recipe called for chicken stock, but I had a Cornish hen in the freezer, so decided to make my own stock. I'll definitely do that again, though I totally keep some boxed stock in the pantry to reheat the soup (the noodles sometimes soak up more stock than you're expecting!).

You Will Need:

For the stock-

1 Cornish Game Hen, innards removed

1 parmesan rind (I have these tucked away in the freezer for stock-making)

1 teaspoon black peppercorn

1 stalk green onion (cut into 3 sections)

1 tablespoon salt

For the soup-

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons butter

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 stalk celery, sliced

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 box spaghetti noodles, broken into 1-2" pieces

To make the stock, place Cornish hen into a stockpot of water until covered - I used a 5 quart stockpot. Set heat to medium-low and add remainder of stock ingredients. Let simmer for 3-4 hours. Remove hen, let cool.

In another stockpot, add olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onions and garlic and saute until vegetables soften, a few minutes. With a sieve over the stockpot, pour the stock into the pot through the sieve. While soup is simmering, remove skin from hen and pick meat off the bones, adding the meat to the soup. Add spaghetti and let simmer for another 1-2 hours. Season to taste with salt and pepper before serving.

I think it's the butter that really gives it that Campbell's-soup comfort we're all so familiar with.

Sure, being sick stinks, but it also gives you an excuse to have this soup for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Falafel!

2018-09-22T13:45:00.000-04:00

You know what isn't a fun phrase - refrigerant leak.

I'm starting to wonder why on earth I thought it would be fun to buy a home. You know what's fun? Calling your leasing office and having them come repair anything and everything next day at no charge to you. That's a good time.

To summarize the last few months in the B&B we lost A/C, got it back again (at quite the price, might I add), the doors need repainting, the gutters need cleaning, and the homeowner needs a spa day.

This recipe however, is the easiest thing I've done in a while. I'd recommend just doubling the recipe to have leftovers to freeze and have at the ready.

I've been on a huge falafel kick lately and tried this recipe on recommendation and they're deeeelicious! Super flavorful and garlicky, plus I love pan-frying them so they're not as greasy as some of the versions you get at restaurants.

You Will Need:

2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 handful fresh cilantro

4 cloves garlic

1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/4 red onion

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup neutral cooking oil

In a food processor add chickpeas, herbs and spices (everything but the flour, baking powder and cooking oil). Pulse until combined - you want to leave some texture, so it shouldn't all turn into a smooth paste, make sure you leave some chunks!

Place mixture into a bowl and stir in the baking powder. Begin adding flour, 2 tablespoons at a time, until mixture comes together enough to form patties.

Using a small scoop or spoon, form falafel into small patties (approximately 2 tablespoons). I roll them into balls and then gently flatten them to create the falafel shape we all know and love.

At this point I'd recommend freezing until ready for use - or at least for 30 minutes if you're planning on enjoying them same-day. They fry up perfectly from the freezer (no thawing necessary)!

A quick packable lunch in a pinch!

There's nothing I love more than Greek salad and I've been eating this for weeeeeeks. A little green, a little olive, a little feta, and an avocado rose makes it all feel so extra special.

Enjoy this one!

summer updates (and salads!)

2018-06-16T11:42:00.000-04:00

I took the week off to get some things done around the house - mostly tending to things I try to ignore like cleaning the floor boards and the backyard. Since we last spoke I also celebrated a birthday, but more on that later.

This year, I decided not to go crazy on the plants - just sticking to a few herbs and veggies. My basil is doing GREAT this year, which is a first. I've definitely been taking advantage with lots of twists on caprese salads - including my favorite summer panzanella salad recipe for you below!

I bought this tiny grill on sale at Lowes last year after grilling season and it's the perfect size and super portable. It is charcoal, so usually I grill as many things as possible to make use of the charcoal.

For this meal, I started off by grilling the bread then set it aside for my salad. While I made that, I had chicken and short rib kabobs working. I made a ton and had leftovers that served as meal prep for the rest of the week.

Summer Panzanella Salad

Serves 2

2 slices bread, grilled and cubed (I used a rosemary olive oil bread)

1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise

2 tablespoons fresh basil, coarsely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon grated parmesan

In a medium bowl, combine bread, tomatoes, and basil. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar and garlic. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Top salad with grated parmesan before serving.

I could (and will) eat this all summer long!

I also mentioned something about a birthday. My coworkers took me to Basil - a Mediterranean-style restaurant for lunch and I got the BEST salad that I've been recreating and eating almost every day since!

This is their version - the Plato's Republic salad with falafel! I am absolutely crazy about falafel.

And my version is slightly less dressed and sadly lacks the delicious fried pita chips. I substituted croutons instead.

Birthday Med Salad

1 head of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped into about 1 inch pieces

5 grape tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise

1/4 red bell pepper, sliced

1/4 red onion, sliced

1/4 English cucumber, quartered and sliced

5 large pimento stuffed olives

1/4 cup mild banana peppers

1/4 cup feta cheese

2 tablespoons Greek Dressing (I use Ken's Steakhouse brand)

3 tablespoons croutons

1 tablespoon grated parmesan

In a large mixing bowl, toss all of your ingredients to make sure the dressing coats evenly. I always add salt and pepper to my salads as well before serving.

I did serve the salad to go with some grilled clams, but really it goes well with anything!

Birthday dinner was a whole other story. It was a delicious celebration of beef, thanks to Back40, a newish restaurant in the area. They're actually part of Timbercreek Market, a local butcher.

We started with the steak tartare, which came highly recommended. The steak was so tender and buttery, really nice against the horseradish and lemon in this dish. And I'm a fan of anything with potato chips!

Dinner was the bone-in ribeye, cooked to perfection! What you don't see is a bed of the creamiest farro hiding under that giant piece of steak. It was all excellent! And all of that fat you see on the plate? I totally got it in a doggy bag to rub all over my grill for my own cooking at home.

Happy Grilling!

Skillet Chicken with Black Beans and Rice

2018-02-21T13:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Wednesday!

I'm mid-vacation week and looooving it!

I started off the weekend back in Northern VA celebrating Lunar New Year with the ol' Asian Invasion - and am now back to spend the rest of the week working on home improvement projects, well thinking about working on them, most likely just laying around drunk from the joy of not having to know what day/time it is.

This morning I woke up and in my Instagram research, happened upon this recipe from one of my faves - The Candid Appetite, and it was simple and quick (under an hour!) enough to throw together for a lunch with coworkers. It was a hit and is absolutely getting added into my dinner/meal prep rotation!

I am always looking for recipes that use chicken thighs/drumsticks - they are not only super cheap at the store, but I feel they're the most flavorful. This recipe also doesn't require any plan-ahead, so the dry rub and searing really helps seal in the flavor and this dish is FLAVOR-TOWN.

Oh, and it's all made in one skillet. A joy much like finding a dress with pockets.

See my recipe with edits below!

And I serve it exactly like this - smack dab in the middle of the table, serve-yourself!

You Will Need:

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

4 bone-in, skin-on drumsticks

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

4 Tablespoons olive oil

1 red onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 medium tomato, diced

1 cup white rice (I used basmati)

2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 bay leaves

2 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 lime, sliced

In a large bowl, combine the chicken with 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, oregano, cumin, paprika and smoked paprika until evenly coated. In a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat add oil. Once hot, brown the chicken in two batches - about 5 minutes on both sides to sear the chicken (it will finish cooking in the oven). Remove chicken and set aside on a plate.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Turn heat down to medium and in your skillet, stir in the onion and garlic and cook until softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the bell pepper and tomato and add rice and 1 teaspoon of salt, cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the black beans, bay leaves and chicken stock, stirring evenly to combine.

Bring your liquid to a simmer and then nestle chicken in a single layer, cover with a lid and bake in the oven until liquid has absorbed and rice has softened*, about 20-25 minutes. Check to make sure the chicken is good through.

Once done, remove from the oven, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, then top with fresh cilantro and slices of lime!

*Since I used basmati rice, it did take some extra coaxing to get the liquid to soak up completely. I took my skillet out of the oven in 25 minutes and needed to get the liquid to cook quickly so I finished cooking mine on the stovetop with the lid off, until the liquid was evaporated.

Enjoy this one, folks! It's a tasty one! I'm off to go bake a pan of staycation brownies!

A Banana Pudding and Weekend Wrap Up!

2018-02-04T10:06:00.004-05:00

If you're scratching your head at what to bring to a Super Bowl party tonight, I've got your answer. Banana Pudding.

You know everyone is going to be thinking appetizers and chili, so be the bright shiny star that floats through the doorway carrying a pile of smooth, creamy pudding, bananas and whipped cream.

Plus it's super easy to make, giving you ample time to suit up and work on your face paint for tonight's game.

You Will Need:

1 8-ounce block cream cheese

1 14-ounce can condensed milk

1 5-ounce box vanilla pudding mix

3 cups cold milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 8-ounce frozen whipped topping, thawed

4 bananas, sliced

1 12-ounce box vanilla wafers

In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in condensed milk, pudding mix, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Fold in 1/2 of whipped topping.

In a deep dish (I used a deep serving bowl and had enough leftover to make a few individual mason jars as well) - layer a thin layer of pudding mixture at the bottom. Line wafers in a layer over the pudding, then arrange banana evenly over the wafers. Add another layer of pudding mixture on top, then spread remaining whipped topping.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours and top with additional crushed wafers on top before serving.

This is one of the mason jars of pudding I put together with what I had leftover - bringing it into work on Monday for a sweet treat for the ol' coworkers.

As far as the rest of the weekend, I headed to Farmville, VA with friends to finally check out Green Front Furniture - some 14 buildings of all furnishings and accessories.

Farmville turned out to be the most charming little town and I did pick up some good finds there as well!

We had lunch at Walker's Diner - I had the beeeest chocolate milkshake and a tuna salad sammy.

My new chair! I picked up this and a few other things, so I'm inspired to move some things around the house and finally finish decorating (because I guess throwing away everything I own and starting over isn't an option)!

Hope you guys have a great Super Bowl Weekend!

Applesauce!

2018-01-28T10:09:00.000-05:00

I'm a little late to the party, but homemade applesauce has become a staple in my house lately!

One of my loose resolutions this year is to work on my food-hoarding, so naturally I had a dozen or so apples that needed attention - an assortment of Empire and Fuji, but you can use whichever variety you like!

I use my crockpot because weekends are usually cleaning days for me, so it works while I work - and about 6 hours later, I reap the benefits.

Photo of me reaping the benefits.

I don't add any extra sweetner to mine because I think it's sweet enough, just a dash of cinnamon, but my coworker does a combination of apple and pear, a pinch of clove and maple syrup and that combination is delicious as well!

You Will Need:

8 apples, peeled, cored and barely chopped

1/4 cup water

pinch of cinnamon

In a crockpot, add your apples and your 1/4 cup of water. Set to low for 6 hours. Add cinnamon once done and break down the apples with a fork or a spoon.

If you want, you can also put the cooled mixture into a blender for a smoother consistency, but I prefer the more rustic texture.

That's it!

No lie, this hasn't really helped with my food hoarding, it's only caused me to continuously buy bags upon bags of apple varieties for applesauce experiments... eh, there's always next year.

An Apology, An Explanation, and A Stew

2018-01-18T22:17:00.001-05:00

Salutations to the handful of you who still hold out hope for me, and rest assured I am still alive and well. My deepest apologies for dropping you like a bad habit, but I'm baaaaaack!

I suppose that's where we'll start, you deserve an explanation for why you've been abandoned for so much of 2017 - and the explanation is that the universe has done the impossible and dropped a fella into my lap.

Internet, I know. Take a minute.

It's far too soon to make introductions, but trust me, he exists and I'm as shocked as you are. But I'm also really disgusting happy. I've been doing a lot of the obligatory going-out-on-a-limb-and-out-of-my-comfort-zone to pick up a few hobbies he enjoys so we can do them together:

This is evidence of me giving skiing a shot for the first time. I screamed the entire time, as expected.

Lots of motorcycle rides in 2017 up to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Also, for those inquiring, Olive is alive and well. Happy about the new fella in my life, not quite, but she's working on her people-skills.

So here we are, you're all caught up and you're really here for stew, so on with the show.

It's been "snowing" this past week, so I dug out my Williams-Sonoma Comfort Food book and got flipping, because honestly, what is more comforting than flipping through a cookbook. At some point, food had to be made, and I settled on the Hearty Beef Stew recipe I've included below - my version, at least.

I had most of the ingredients on hand because I'm a food hoarder and my freezer has just about any cut of meat you could find at a butcher, so conveniently had 3 pounds of beef chuck at the ready. If you aren't stocked to live as comfortably as I will during the Zombie Apocalypse, you need to just go out and get the limited number ingredients it takes to create this stick-to-your-bones, cold-weather-curing stew. It's so magical and soooo good leftover.

Hearty Beef Stew

You Will Need:

3 pounds boneless beef chuck

2 thick slices of pancetta, cubed (approximately 4 ounces)

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

1 medium onion, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

3 stalks celery, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons salted butter

6 tablespoons all purpose flour

4 cups beef stock

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon fresh parsley, plus more for garnish

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 1/4 pounds red-skinned potatoes

Position rack in lower third of the oven and preheat to 325 F.

Cut the beef into 1 1/2-inch cubes and set aside.

In a large Dutch oven, cook the pancetta in oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until pancetta is crisp and browned, about 7 minutes. Transfer pancetta to a large bowl and set aside. Pour the leftover grease from the pot into a heatproof bowl. Return 2 tablespoons of pancetta fat into the pot and heat over medium-high heat.

Season the beef cubes with salt and pepper and cook in batches to avoid over-crowding. Make sure to brown beef on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch. Add seared beef into the large bowl with the cooked pancetta and set aside.

Add another 2 tablespoons of fat to the pot and heat over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the butter and let it melt, then add in the flour, stirring well.

Gradually add in the beef stock, then the tomato paste, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf. Return beef and pancetta to the pot and bring to a boil.

Cover, place in the oven and cook for 1 1/2 hours.

Cut the unpeeled potatoes into 1-inch cubes, add them to the pot, stir, re-cover and continue cooking until both the meat and potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes more.

Season the stew with any additional salt and pepper to taste, and serve with extra parsley on top.

This is one of those recipes where I'll urge you on the importance of owning a Dutch oven. I absolutely love, love, love mine. Mostly because I can just use one cooking vessel from stovetop to oven, thereby reducing the number of dishes I have to do, which, in turn, makes me feel like cooking isn't a huge inconvenience.

I heard a tidbit of information the other day - that millennials don't like touching raw meat. That's a shame. You can certainly go out on the prowl for a meal like this, scouring the internet for yelp reviews on the best stew, but there is something so great about being able to make something like this yourself. Don't be scared of the meat. You're not going to make it any less dead.

And with that, happy cooking!

The Real-Deal Wontons

2017-03-09T14:53:00.001-05:00

I'm smack dab in the middle of a staycation and got bitten by the wonton bug. I told a couple people I was going to attempt to make wontons and most of them came back with a version of, "Ohmygodilovewontons! The cream cheese is my favorite!"

I'm sorry, wontons have cream cheese in them? Oh, right #crazywhitepeople.

By wontons, I mean the traditional soup-wontons I grew up eating. The ones filled with pork, shrimp, and greens and if you were feeling crazy, chives. But cream cheese? Nah. We grew up eating that stuff on bagels. (Call us crazy.)

Not that I've got a vendetta against cream cheese. As I grew up and out of my Asian-ness, it has become one of my favorite food groups, but there's no room for it in these wontons.

These are absolutely best when made from scratch - and I promise they don't take as long as you might think. Make them and cook up a couple to enjoy right away, or make and freeze for a quick meal that's ready in 10 minutes.

You Will Need:

8 dried shiitake mushrooms
8 ounces baby bok choy (about 4 big handfuls)
6 raw shrimp (deveined and peeled)
1 pound ground pork (not lean)
1/2 bunch finely chopped chives, about 1/4 cup (optional)
1 teaspoon sesame oil + more for serving
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon black (or white) pepper
1 egg
1 package wonton wrappers
chicken stock (optional - you can also use water)
scallions
hot pickled mustard root (optional, for serving)

Start by reconstituting the shiitake mushrooms - In a small bowl, place dried mushrooms and top with boiling water. Cover with plate and let soak until mushrooms are soft - about 15-20 minutes.

These dried shiitakes I got from my momma (haha - literally) but you can just as easily use fresh if you're able to get your hands on them. With fresh, you would use the same process - soak them in boiling water for just a bit and squeeze to drain excess liquid before mincing.

Meanwhile, wash and drain bok choy (traditionally three times - making sure the water runs clear. Bok choy can be very sandy!). Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and toss in bok choy - cooking just until softened, about 5 minutes. Remove bok choy and shock in chilled water. Drain and set aside.

For this recipe, I've been using baby bok choy, but you can use full-size, or try a version with napa cabbage!

In a large mixing bowl, add ground pork, chives, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, salt, sugar, pepper and egg white from 1 egg (reserve the egg yolk in a smaller bowl - you will use this later for shaping the wontons).

Squeeze excess liquid from mushrooms and trim off stems. Mince mushrooms and add to bowl.

Taking handfuls of bok choy at a time, mince and squeeze excess liquid into a separate bowl, adding the bok choy into the larger bowl with the pork mixture.

Using your hands or a spoon, mix until combined. Add additional reserved water from bok choy as needed. You will want to form a paste-like texture. The mixture should be sticky to ensure your wontons are not too dry.

Filling, all ready to go!

Now we're ready to make the wontons! Add about a tablespoon of water to the egg yolk and stir gently to combine. This is what we'll be using to seal the wontons.

Using the wonton wrapper, place a teaspoon of filling in the center of the wonton. Using your finger, brush egg wash along half of the wonton wrapper and fold over to seal creating a rectangle shape. Use another drop of egg wash on one corner of the wonton and bring the two corners together and pinch to seal.

Repeat with remainder of wonton wrappers.

At this point, you can cook them or freeze them.

To serve, add a tablespoon soy sauce, a teaspoon of sesame oil, thinly sliced pickled mustard root (if using) and chopped scallions to a bowl.

Over medium- high heat, bring chicken stock/water to a boil and add desired number of wontons. Cook until wontons float and are cooked through - about 10 minutes.

Add cooked wontons to serving bowls and top with water/chicken broth.

Chow time!

So what's with the pickled mustard root? Well, it's entirely optional, but it's what we grew up eating wontons with! They give the dish a nice crunch and added salt.

Enjoy!

Spicy Honey Garlic Butter Wings

2017-01-09T17:10:00.001-05:00

Standing up for what you believe in isn't always easy.

I've spent some 10+ years defending my favorite wing place. Standing by the place despite the slight decline since opening multiple locations, despite newer, fancier establishments threatening this older, crustier establishment. Even despite that one time they force-fed me so many wings my nose started to bleed (Okay fine, they never force fed me. I did it on my own free will.) No, even then, I did not turn my back on this place.

Instead, I insist to this day that the original location still had the best wings, I scoff at every person who suggests Wild Wings was a legitimate wing place, and of course I went back for wings after "the incident." It was all you can eat wing night, no pain, no gain.

But now I'm a miserable 2 hours away from Buffalo Wing Factory and that means my ALLTIMEFAVORITIESTOFALLTIME wings - their spicy honey garlic butter wings, are also 2 hours away. So I decided to make my own.

They're not the same - because they're not fried and because I'm not magic, but I was supposed to only eat 6 and ended up polishing off the entire bowl... so they do the trick.

You Will Need

1.5 to 2 pounds of wings

4 tablespoons butter (separated)

salt and pepper

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes

1 tablespoon honey

1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a small saucepan melt 2 tablespoons butter. Coat wings in melted butter and season with salt and pepper. Spread wings on baking sheet lined with parchment paper - bake 20 minutes, flip and bake an additional 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in same saucepan used earlier, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter, add minced garlic, cook until garlic gets a little crispy, but not burned (about 1 minute), add chili flakes and honey, cook until combined (about 30 seconds). Remove from heat.

Once wings are done, toss wings in a large bowl with spicy honey butter. Add parmesan cheese and toss until wings are coated. Serve with chopped parsley on top.

As lame as it might sound, I'll try baked instead of fried wings this year for the Super Bowl - wings are wings, as long as they're not (gasp) boneless!

Soup Goals

2017-01-04T10:19:00.002-05:00

Okay, if you haven't heard of Sam the Cooking Guy, you need to get on it. He might be my new favorite Canadian (yes, ahead of Ryan Gosling - unless Ryan Gosling can make soup too). His recipes are SUPER easy and you usually have what you need tucked in your kitchen somewhere. Case in point - I saw one of his latest videos on Facebook the other day (for one of my faves - Potato Leek Soup!) and went downstairs to start peeling potatoes immediately to use up a leftover leek I had in the fridge.

I didn't listen to his advice and used the entire leek (living on the wild side over here), so my end photos look more like the baby poo, so I'll spare you the photos. Here is his quick video on how to put the thing together:

Quick and creamy without using any cream at all! I set aside a few pieces of potato before processing the rest because I like my soups with a little chunk (ya know what I'm sayin'?) and topped it off with a few crisped pieces of potato and bacon.

Check out more of his stuff HERE!

On 2017

2016-12-26T19:23:00.004-05:00

The year is winding down and what a year it's been! We're just wrapping up a holiday season of hosting here at the B&B and I'm oh-so-grateful to be able to write that sentence!

To recap 2016, I bought my 2016 house (holla at a house number I won't easily forget) and we opened a store in Cville and I made many a friend in the process. I am quickly discovering how one can fall in love with this town.

Thanksgiving 2k16 at the B&B was met with your holiday favorites. This year has definitely been the year of charcuterie for me. Can't get enough of some 18-month gouda! My mom was visiting the motherland, so my aunts came down to Cville for the occasion.

Brunch on Christmas Day is definitely worth repeating before the year is up! I gifted myself Chrissy Teigen's cookbook - Cravings for Christmas and am excited to cook my way through it! Her baked garlicky bacon is a winner! I did my own version of a soft-scrambled egg and roasted tomatoes and of course, my fave sweet potato hash.

The holiday wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though, I was surrounded and attacked by the Asian Invasion this past weekend with some pretty aggressive goals for 2017. I was essentially told I need to either no longer be single or produce a child by the end of the year. Apparently cats don't count. Ain't nobody got time for that. I just want to get this down in writing so that when we're looking back in December 2017, I have evidence stating that I will not be making strides towards that goal. Instead, my goal this year will be to go on more trips and to get cracking on my edible landscaping project for the front/back yard. It's gonna be a busy year!

Planning with my seed catalog from Baker Creek Seeds! Looking to get down with some heirloom beans this year.

Hope you guys have a great holiday!

The Breakfast Plan

2016-11-20T13:49:00.001-05:00

Every weekend of late I've been humming the same tune - sweet potato hash.

Some might argue that's not really a song, and those people are probably doing it wrong. Don't be those people. Get yourself a cast iron skillet. Season it. Love it. Respect it. And use it all the freaking time.

What's great about this recipe is there isn't a recipe - it's really just steps. I mean, obviously you need sweet potatoes, but the other stuff is just what you feel like.

The most important thing is to start out with a seasoned skillet. I've been working on mine since the dutch baby episode nearly 2 years ago and it's earned its keep in my kitchen.

This "recipe" is enough for me + some leftovers for lunch the next day. I'll usually hit these up for breakfast Sunday and then add some shaved brussels sprouts, chicken sausage, and toasted pepitas for lunch the next day.

You Will Need

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium sweet onion, peeled and diced

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 medium apple (any variety), peeled and diced

A couple shakes of dried sage or rosemary, cinnamon and garlic powder

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons of butter

In a heated skillet over medium heat, add olive oil to coat pan, then toss in your onion, sweet potato and apple. Saute until browned (about 10 minutes), add spices, salt and pepper. Before turning off heat, add some butter and saute until melted.

I like to add a bit of butter at the end just to give the hash some more glossiness (aka fat) and well, because butter.

You may need to add more oil throughout cooking if your goods start sticking, it depends on how big potato/onion/apple is that you're using.

This would also be perfect for any leftover baked sweet potatoes, just coarsely chop them up and cook the same way as above (they'll be nice and soft throughout the middle and crispy on the outside like restaurant hash).

I put together potato and portobello hash last week with leftover red potatoes, poblano peppers, and onions - inspired by one of my favorite breakfast spots in C-Ville, Bluegrass Grill & Bakery. I fell in love with their portobello hash and made a spicier cheese-less version in that sweet skillet pictured above.

Trust, every weekend deserves a hash and every kitchen deserves a skillet.

Under Construction

2016-10-31T00:05:00.001-04:00

I'm baaaaaack! And unfortunately still a work in progress. :)

Turns out, a lot can happen in a month. I basically went from posting that last pineapple blog post to buying a house. Not sure how it happened, but I signed some papers and next thing you know, I'm planning a housewarming party.

I'm absolutely in love with the new casa and still pinching myself over the purchase. Decorating it has been a slow and steady process - mostly because my timing is terrible (a brand new store opening in a week?!) and I'm realizing it's quite difficult to hang a chandelier solo, but it's coming together.

As I was saying, I had a housewarming get together last weekend and am still recovering. If you opened my fridge/freezer, you'd think the party hadn't happened yet. Turns out, I need to make friends with bigger eaters.

The biggest hit of the party? Chicken Pot Pie Fritters - recipe adapted from Bryan Voltaggio's cookbook Home. One of my favorite apps from his restaurant Family Meal.

I adapted it because well, no offense Bryan, chicken pot pie isn't chicken pot pie unless it has peas in it. But now that I have the power to turn any savory-pie filling/creamy soup into a fritter form, my mind's going wild. Clam Chowder Fritters? Chicken and Dumpling Fritters?

The other star of the show? The Bourbon Meatballs and they couldn't be easier! I've included the recipe below, but what's great about these meatballs? They go right into the slow cooker and you don't worry about them again until it's party-time! The sauce is super sticky and just sweet enough with enough bourbon to knock you over if you're like me and lose track of how many you've eaten. I'll deeefinitely be making this sauce to use with turkey meatballs and chicken wings!

This is the kitchen island that solidified the purchase for me. So big, I couldn't even get it in one shot. Can't wait to make pasta and Christmas cookies on this bad boy.

Bourbon BBQ Party Meatballs

You Will Need:

2 pound bag frozen meatballs*

1/2 (heaping) cup ketchup

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup bourbon whiskey

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

*I bought a Wegmans Family Pack of frozen meatballs (4 pounds) because no one wants to run out of meatballs at a party! So I doubled the rest of the ingredients and it worked perfectly.

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except for meatballs. Mix well.

Put frozen meatballs into crock pot and pour the whiskey sauce on top, mixing to ensure every meatball is coated.

Turn heat to high for one hour, stirring occasionally. Once meatballs have thawed a bit, turn crockpot down to low until ready to party!

More to come on the chicken wing version of this yummy recipe! For the opening, I'll be hosting some guests at the new and improved Bed and Breakfast and will certainly whip up some wings for them! My best guess? Season wings with salt and pepper, bake/fry them, while reducing the sauce above, then coat them in that glorious whiskey sauce.

Oh, how I've missed you guys.

Cooking for 1: Pineapple Salsa

2016-07-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

I absolutely can't stand to waste food and am a bit of a food hoarder. My fridge and pantry make me look like a doomsday prep-er (only a terrible one that would have to figure out how to boil water with no resources to serve proper soba noodles).

I digress. The entire point of this story is that one day I wanted pineapple. I'm not the type to eat it out of the can and consider that craving satisfied. No, real pineapple that you have to core and cut into bits. Real pineapple that requires clean-up. Nothing tastes as good as hard work people!

The problem is that I typically can't sit down and eat an entire pineapple, so I have to get creative. I reuse a lot of things in other dishes but pineapple was a bit trickier.

First off, you need to know how to cut a pineapple. Wash it first, dry it, and cut the top and the bottom off so that it will stand up nice and sturdy. Run a knife along the sides from top to bottom to peel away the skin in sections. Because I was grilling my pineapple, I then sliced them in sections about 1" thick and used a small round cookie cutter to cut out the tough center.

I grilled my pineapple, then realized I ran out of tomatoes for my almost-daily caprese ritual. Boom. Grilled Pineapple Caprese salad was invented.

Grilled pineapple chunks, burrata, basil, and balsamic vinegar glaze. A total dish made out of hanger. I usually keep the fridge stocked throughout the summer with mozzarella so I can make a caprese in a flash and honestly, I think I now prefer the grilled pineapple to tomatoes!

The next day I had gone to a Trader Joe's and bought a bag of jalapeños, which led to salsa-making and a lot of leftover jalapeños. So boom, grilled pineapple salsa. This is a great thing to make for the summer - I topped it on a salad for lunch, then with fish tacos for dinner.

Quick salad of arugula, cucumbers, red bell pepper, grilled chicken, and the pineapple salsa.

I stuffed my tacos with arugula, seared off some tilapia, added some leftover roasted butternut squash I had, and some homemade pickled watermelon rind (make them!) - all topped off with more of the pineapple salsa. It never gets old.

Another staple in my summer fridge: corn tortillas! They last foreeeever and are great for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (anything can be turned into a taco nowadays)! A quick way to use up leftovers, or cut them up and bake them for emergency tortilla chips.

Take the challenge with me! No grocery shopping for a week and cook what you've got on hand! Only the strong survive.

Grilled Pineapple Salsa

3 1" thick slices of grilled pineapple, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
juice from 1 lime
1/8 cup red onion, diced
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and that's it! Keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Blue Apron and Polenta Cakes

2016-06-25T12:35:00.000-04:00

So by now I'm thinking everyone has heard of Blue Apron - a direct-to-you, easy-to-prep, meal in a box. I had the opportunity to try a week's worth of meals FREE thanks to Amanda who hooked this girl up with a trial.

I waited patiently for weeks and weeks for the right combination of recipes that piqued my interest - how it works is they feature different recipes each week and you can elect to skip weeks if you're going to be out of town or aren't interested in any of the recipes for that week.

Seeing as how I feel I'm pretty proficient in cooking, I didn't want to waste my voucher on any super-simple recipes. I wanted to try something new and exciting! What's great about Blue Apron is that each recipe comes with a card and all the ingredients you'll need to make it. That way, you can keep the recipe for future use if you love it and if you don't, you're not stuck with an entire bottle of spice/sauce that you'll never use again. The ingredients are pre-portioned, so no waste!

I decided to make my move when this week's recipe appeared: Arepas de Carne Molida with Avocado and Pickled Jalapeño. Yum (check the link for the recipe)! Unfortunately, what happened was the masarepa (or maize flour) had spilled during shipping and I wasn't able to salvage it. No worries, Blue Apron took care of me with a generous credit, but that still didn't solve my problem for making dinner that night.

Then, I thought maize is corn, corn flour is essentially corn meal... I have corn meal! So I decided to make polenta and the day was saved! Not only that, but it reignited my love for polenta and how versatile it is!

I'm hoping everyone has corn meal in their pantry. I'm also hoping everyone uses it for more than just dusting pizza stones. This recipe is super easy and you can adjust to make soft or firm polenta. The latter is typically my drug of choice - it's easy to portion and freeze and you can pan fry it or grill it to get a nice crispy outer crust, which is a nice contrast to the soft and creamy insides. If you want to keep the polenta soft, just add more hot water to the recipe below until you reach the desired consistency.

You Will Need (for 6 servings):
1/2 cup corn meal
2 to 2 1/2 cups water (use 2 cups for firm polenta)
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon butter

Bring water to a boil, add salt and then slowly add corn meal while stirring constantly. It will thicken in about 2-3 minutes, but make sure it's soft enough to stir. Adjust water accordingly and add salt, pepper, and any other ingredients you'd like! I added crushed red pepper and some grated parmesan to mine. Be creative! I was thinking of tackling a pesto-version in the near future!

At this point, if you're making firm polenta, you will need to shape it and refrigerate it to chill for a few hours and up to 3 days.

Once chilled, it's time to put it all together! Cook up the polenta cakes in a frying pan or on a grill. These polenta cakes are so versatile. You can certainly serve it with sautéed spinach and tomatoes, or with an egg and the fixings for breakfast.

To solve my dinner problem - I followed the recipe as suggested for the ground beef and making the pickled onions. I topped all of that on top of my polenta cake and made some guacamole to go with it and some matchstick radishes to top it all of for some crunch.

For the polenta cakes, I'm a stickler for uniformity, so I actually sprayed a glass beer mug that would give me even-sized circles when slicing, poured the soft polenta mixture in, topped it with some plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge for a few hours before slicing into it.

It was a really early dinner, so by the time dishes were done Zac and I were ready for an encore! We headed down to Whiskey Jar for drinks and some noshes to celebrate him finding a place in Cville!

Their Moscow Mules are strong aaaaand delicious! Shout out to the complementary peanuts and house pickles that kept me in my seat and off of the bar top.

Their asparagus appetizer was awesome! Grilled (and not overcooked!) and seasoned asparagus with gorgeous crispy onion strings. And I loved the grilled lemon they served with it!

Even more incredible was their dessert!!! Their pecan pie was just that - ALL PECAN. No layer of goopy syrup, just chock-full of pecans and a very thin layer of crust - almost like a phyllo crust. It reminded us a lot of another one of my favorite desserts - baklava. And that beautiful silky smooth scoop on top? Bourbon vanilla ice cream. I know. My jaw dropped when they set that in front of me and it's pretty much been hanging open ever since.

Happy Weekend!

Pie and Dating

2016-06-19T12:43:00.000-04:00

So... as you approach 30 and happen to be completely alone (not to be confused with single n' mingling), people start to get nervous for you.

Even when you're not nervous for yourself.

Which then makes you think, 'Should I be nervous?'

And then you get nervous.

And then you go on a date.

I suppose most people go on many dates, but I'm good.

I tried it and I think I'm all set.

I HAD TO PUT PANTS ON. Some days, that's just straight up unreasonable.

So I made a pie because pies don't ask you questions.

And this pie, if pie could be a person, would be the kind of pie-person that would take you on a really fun date. They would be sweet, sharp, and charming. I would continue to wax poetic about this dream pie-person, but things would probably get a little weird, so on with the recipe for you to make your own dream pie date!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

(because it's one of my favorites and rhubarb and strawberries are in season y'all!)

You Will Need:

1 recipe All Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough (or pie dough recipe of your choice!)

3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch thick slices trimmed rhubarb (about 1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)

1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled and halved (about 3 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg beaten and whisked with 1 teaspoon water

sanding sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the rhubarb, strawberries, brown sugar and granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt.

Roll out one half of chilled dough recipe and lay onto the bottom of your pie pan. Trim any excess dough away from the pie pan.

Roll out second half of chilled dough and cut into strips (if you're doing a lattice top like I did, or you can leave it with a solid top - whatever you want to do! Get creative!)

Fill pie shell with filling and top with your style of choice. Using the egg wash, brush the top of the pie and sprinkle sanding sugar, if using.

Bake pie at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 1 hour and 20-30 minutes, or until pie crust is golden brown and the filling has thickened.

My pie all set and ready for the oven!

I always end up with scraps or spoonfuls of filling one way or another, so you can do hand pies (mini hand-held pies!), crumb pies, or just throw any leftover filling in a ramekin, top with your leftover dough scraps and bake off a mini taste test for yourself because you're awesome and you deserve it!

This is sooooo much better than having to put on pants.

Shrimp and Corn Chowder

2016-06-02T22:01:00.003-04:00

Corn on the cob season!!! I absolutely love how easy this soup comes together - loads of flavor and is rich and creamy but you won't find any heavy cream in it at all!

You Will Need: (for about 2 servings)

Pancetta or bacon (about 2 ounces)

2 stalks celery, diced

3 stalks green onions, thinly sliced

Kernels from 1 corn on the cob

2 springs thyme, removed from stalks

2 tablespoons butter or rendered bacon fat

2 heaping tablespoons flour

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup whole milk

1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper

6 large shrimp, peeled, deveined and cut into quarters

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, sautée pancetta for about 2-3 minutes. Add celery, green onions, corn, and thyme. Cook until celery is softened and corn is cooked through, about 8-10 minutes.

Add butter or bacon fat and flour, cooking for 2-3 minutes until flour is cooked through. Add chicken stock and milk and mix thoroughly, letting it come to a simmer and thicken. Season with cayenne and add shrimp. Letting it cook through as the chowder continues to thicken, about 10 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper and serve!

Celebrations and a Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

2016-05-15T18:19:00.000-04:00

Happy May!

I've been a busy bee lately and only because there has been so much celebrating to do!

At the B&B, we've been packed this month! Lots of visitors, lots of fun, and lots of FOOD! On the work end there was also lots of celebrating too!

Lauren came to visit! We planned a weekend of gluttony to kick start a month of detoxing before my birthday (spoiler alert, this post was drafted weeks ago and the detox is not going well. Surprise, surprise.).

We started off our day with treatsies from Albemarle Bakery - their chocolate and bacon, egg, and cheese croissants.

Then we headed to Nellysford to visit Bold Rock Cidery for a tasting of their new offerings!

We packed a picnic!

On our way back from Nellysford we stopped by a roadside stand that had the most COLORFUL flowers, so I just dumped out all of the money in my wallet and left with these beauties.

And as per tradition with any visitor, there was most definitely a Sunday morning stop at Ace Biscuit and BBQ! We went all out and each left with two biscuits - the scrambled egg and breakfast sausage and the brisket biscuit for me. YUM YUM!

Meanwhile at work...

Our chef had a birthday! We snuck in a little early and made funfetti pancakes and bacon for breakfast, goulash for lunch, and ice cream cake for dessert!!! I'm only getting warmed up folks. I brought and am now keeping a griddle at work, so just imagine how much grilled cheese is getting made daily. The office smells like bacon and butter ALL DAY LONG. It's glorious.

And we had a Celebration for our Midlothian store to welcome all of their full time employees at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond! (One of the most beautiful hotels I've ever been in!)

Zach's been our division support and has been on the road a lot, so he's been racking up frequent flier miles at the bed and breakfast. In honor of his patronage, I want to share with you all our all-time-favorite recipe for thick, gooey chocolate chip cookies. I don't want to say they're the best, because any cookie monster knows there are at least 4 different genres of chocolate chip cookies... but these are the best in their class.

It's important to know that the secret to success in this recipe is going to be freezing the cookie dough, so make sure you plan ahead! I make a big batch so I can pop a few in the oven as soon as visitors tell me they're on their way!

You Will Need:

1/2 cup rolled oats
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine.

Combine the ground oats with the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in a standing mixer with a paddle attachment.

Add the eggs and mix until smooth.

Stir in the dry mixture and blend well.

Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are evenly incorporated.

Using a 1/4 cup cookie scoop, portion cookies onto a tray lined with parchment. Freeze cookies for at least an hour before baking or placing in a freezer bag (freezing them first keeps them from sticking together when you put them all in a bag).

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove cookies from freezer just before baking and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle.

Store in a sealed container when cooled to keep them super soft!

Zac's favorite way to eat these cookies?

Smart kid.

Chicken and Gnocchi Soup with Spring Vegetables

2016-04-03T15:37:00.001-04:00

Yum yum yuuuuum. I can't tell you enough how much I love this soup!

It's my absolute favorite version of chicken soup especially because it's a celebration of spring vegetables - fennel, leeks... veggies that are way worth trying! I had previously been intimidated by both - but cleaning them is quite easy and you'll find they are great veggies to have in the fridge and ready to roast at a moment's notice.

You Will Need

10 cups chicken broth

2 pounds boneless chicken breast

1/2 stick butter

6 tablespoons flour

1 large bulb fennel, trimmed and sliced

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 leek, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced

12 ounces gnocchi

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

juice from 1/2 lemon (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)

salt and pepper

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large dutch oven and add chicken. Simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes. Remove chicken, saving broth in the same pot and cool. Shred chicken into bite sized pieces.

Bring broth back to a simmer.

In a small saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly for about 3 minutes. Add to simmering broth and cook for 5-10 minutes until slightly thickened.

Add chopped vegetables and simmer for 5 minutes. Add in gnocchi and simmer until gnocchi is soft. Add in chicken, lemon juice, and parsley and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Yum Yum! So creamy and flavorful! Zach visited the B&B this weekend and requested an eggplant side, so I also put together a ratatouille - thinly sliced eggplant and squash on top of a layer of tomato puree, onions and garlic.

And we made cookies too (of course)! Know that most people have to work up to visiting the B&B, much like the preparation required to survive a meal at Fogo De Chao.

I got an ice cream scoop (finally) and making perfectly-sized cookies are a breeze now!

We used my favorite recipe for double chocolate chip cookies - super ooey gooey in the middle and just crispy enough on the outside to hold its shape. I sent Zach away with the leftover cookies, which is for the best because I would eat them nonstop... but I could totally go for 1 (or 5) right about now.

Wherever you are cookies, I hope you end up in a good belly.

Best Baked Brunch Eggs

2016-03-26T17:55:00.000-04:00

Coming across this recipe may have very well changed the course of my life. I suppose I've been known to exaggerate here and there when it comes to tasty bites, but this is no drill. Get your butt to the grocery store and be the star of tomorrow's Easter brunch.

What are we making?

Baked Eggs in Italian Tomato Sugo with Ricotta and Spring Vegetables

(aka - Baked Eggs with Ricotta, Asparagus, and Fennel)

View the original recipe HERE. I made some additions because I wanted to season my ricotta. I decided on extra cheese, because duh, and some lemon zest because it would go well with the asparagus and fennel. It made for a perfect balance.

You Will Need

For the Tomato Sugo:

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 medium sweet onion, finely diced

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (I used the Sole D'Italia brand)

For the Ricotta:

5 Tablespoons ricotta (about 8 ounces)

1/8 cup grated pecorino romano

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tsp lemon zest

salt and pepper

Other Ingredients:

1/4 - 1/2 fennel bulb, finely sliced (save some of the tendrils for garnish)

1 bunch baby asparagus, wooded ends removed

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

salt and pepper

5 eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a cast-iron skillet or oven-safe pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and chili flakes. Salute until onion is translucent. Add the crushed tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, then bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the acidity of the tomatoes cooks out from the sauce. (Taste it, it shouldn't taste sour.)

While the tomatoes are cooking down, combine ingredients for ricotta filling in a bowl and mix to combine.

Remove pan from heat and line the fennel slices around the edges of the pan and place asparagus in small bunches around the pan with the tops sticking out. Dot the ricotta using a tablespoon around the pan and sprinkle with some parsley and fennel tendrils (if using).

Bake in oven for 20 minutes. Carefully remove pan from oven and make indents for 5 eggs with a tablespoon. Crack egg into each indent, top with salt and pepper and return to oven until eggs are cooked to your liking. (I like them still runny in the middle, so I cook them for about 5-7 minutes.)

Remove from oven and top with remaining parsley and fennel tendrils before serving.

Serve with some really crusty bread to sop it all up!

Ricotta mixture ready to be mixed!

Veggies and garnish ready to go! This recipe was really nice in that it allowed for downtime. I was able to get all my veggies cleaned, chopped, and ready to go while the tomato sauce simmered away.

Veggies and ricotta tucked in and ready for some oven time. I sprayed the veggies with a hint of olive oil and a hit of salt. Not necessary, but I did it anyway. The original recipe has you crack the eggs in before you put everything in the oven, but that would make for way overcooked eggs. Cook all of this base first - for 20 minutes, then add the eggs at the very end and cook until the egg whites are just solid for the perfectly runny egg.

If I haven't said it enough, I love, love, LOVE this recipe. The kick from the chili flakes in the tomato sauce combined with that creamy ricotta. The lemon zest and those just-barely-burnt tips of asparagus and fennel...

I mean, there were two of us and we were able to polish off 3/4 of this thing along with plenty of toast and bacon on the side. This is one of those dishes you sit and talk over, so take your time.

Hope everything has a great weekend and a Happy Easter!

Pesto If You Please

2016-03-18T23:36:00.001-04:00

This post is long overdue, but better late than never!

Current happenings: working on improving my balcony game. I've made the recent decision to spare no expense on my abode seeing how the only interest second to hosting guests at my home is spending time in absolute solitude here.

I've been slowly working on growing some seedlings in hopes of transforming 100 square feet of space into a garden oasis/bistro/rooftop bar sans-rooftop. It will be epic.

I've never had any success growing basil, but this year that will change. It has to. I'm hooked on pesto and that is what brings us here today.

Over the years my recipe for pesto has gotten simpler and simpler because honestly, I'm finding the pine nuts aren't necessary, neither is a ton of cheese. Really we all know who we came to see and that's the basil.

Easy Pesto:

1 bunch basil

1/4 cup or more olive oil

salt

pepper

1 garlic clove

pecorino romano or parmesan cheese

In a food processor, add basil, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, garlic clove and a few scrapes of cheese (use a grater or microplane)*. Pulse until smooth, adding more olive oil as necessary. Stop to taste and adjust salt/pepper/cheese as needed.

(I also add a pinch of crushed red pepper to my pesto, but people who live that lifestyle typically add it to everything without being prompted.)

*So why are we skimping on cheese? Doesn't that go against everything I've ever believed in? Well, yes and no. I like to skimp on cheese in this step because well, I'm really cheap and this cheese is pricey. But also because pesto is about the basil. I always add cheese to top the dish off and I certainly don't skimp there, because that's where it can really be appreciated.

Perfect example. This was the product of one long cooking weekend (and you can trust that more cheese was added in post). Homemade spinach and sundried tomato ravioli with boatloads of that fresh pesto, local italian sausage, and that glorious cheese.

But the pesto party ain't over until I say it's over...

Eons ago, we used to sell a tortellini basil salad at work. It was glorious. Surely you can buy you're pesto pre-made. Not going to lie, sometimes I do just to avoid having to clean the food processor... But the general idea is perfectly just-slightly overcooked tortellini swimming in pesto and green-tinted oil. I decided it was time to try to recreate it. I added chopped up pimento peppers because we're officially in the South now (so get used to it).

I always oversalt this pasta intentionally, add extra cheese, and serve it cold or hot!

And in the name of trying new things - I made my favorite - a roasted chicken and taught Zach how to butterfly the beast (my favorite cardamom yogurt spiced chicken recipe HERE) with a side of pan-fried potatoes and sautéed brussels sprouts.

A few weeks ago, Zach came to visit and I have to say I'm most inspired food-wise by the Zachs of the world. The people who haven't tried this or that, or maybe haven't had a great experience with this or that.

Photo evidence of Zach going in for seconds on the brussels sprouts. I come from the school of thought that everything tastes better when you put pork product in it. In this case, pancetta.

A lot more pesto posts to come as the spring and summer roll along and more guests some through the ol' B&B.