The Unpizza

Saturday, August 29, 2009

The Unpizza

This is one of our family secrets. This pizza is great because you can either eat it hot out of the oven or cold the next day and it travels well. The Fontina gives it a nice nutty taste and compliments the mozzarella and sausage. If you're looking for something different, this is the way to go.

The Unpizza

1 pizza dough

1 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage - cooked and drained

6 eggs

8 oz. Fontina cheese

8 oz. mozzarella cheese

2 tbsp. Parmesan/Romano cheese

1 tbsp. Italian Seasoning

Preheat oven at 400 degrees. Cook and drain sausage on a paper towel.

Coat 8x8 baking dish with olive oil. Stretch dough over dish - leave about 4" of dough overlapping each side.

In medium bowl, mix eggs, Fontina, Mozzarella, Parmesan/Romano and Italian Seasoning.

Pour half of the egg mixture onto pizza dough. Add sausage and pour remaining egg mixture to dough. Fold dough to cover top and seal.

Bake for 20 minutes or until top is golden brown. Let sit for about 15 minutes and remove from baking dish.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Chocolate covered strawberries are a nice little romantic treat when you want to celebrate something special. I always make them for our wedding anniversary. They are very simple to make and they go really well with some sparkling wine.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

1 package strawberries
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tbsp. heavy cream
splash of vanilla extract

Rinse strawberries and drain on a paper towel. Make sure you dry the strawberries so the chocolate will stick. Heat chocolate, heavy cream and vanilla in a small sauce pan over low, stirring constantly. Once chocolate has melted, dip strawberry in chocolate sauce. Place dipped strawberry on a wax paper covered plate. Chill in refrigerator for about an hour or until chocolate has completely cooled on strawberry.

Enjoy!

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Who does not love a biscuit with a meal? I love going to restaurants and trying different types of breads before my appetizer arrives. For years, I have been trying to come up with the perfect biscuit to serve for dinner and I finally found it!

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

2 c. Bisquick
1 c. cheddar cheese
2/3 c. milk
2 tbsp. melted butter
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Glaze
3 tbsp. butter
1/4-1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. parsley

Preheat oven at 425 degrees. Mix Bisquick, milk, cheese, butter and garlic powder in a bowl. Line cookie sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray. Drop biscuits in a heaping tablespoon on baking sheet. Cook for about 10 minutes (oven time may vary).

While biscuits are in the oven, heat butter, garlic powder and parsley over low heat in a small saucepan. When biscuits are cooked, brush butter mixture over biscuits. Serve warm.

Makes about 10 biscuits.

Enjoy!

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Wine Sauce

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

I love sauce and gravy. Whether it be Country Fried Chicken or Pot Roast, it has to be coated with something. This recipe is the basic Chicken Cordon Bleu with a twist - a white wine sauce that you can put on the chicken and noodles. It is out of this world.

For something different or if you don't have a lot of time, don't wrap the ham and swiss in the chicken. Just bread the chicken, brown it and let it simmer in the wine for about 15 minutes.

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Wine Sauce

4 thin cut, boneless chicken breasts
4 slices of thin deli sliced ham
4 slices of deli sliced swiss
3 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
3 tbsp. butter
3/4 c. white wine (Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio)
1 chicken bouillon cube or envelope
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup half and half

Lay chicken breasts flat and fold cheese and ham slices to fit on top. Fold chicken over filling and fasten with skewer or toothpick.

Mix flour, paprika and poultry seasoning in a small bowl. Roll chicken rolls in mixture until well coated.

Melt butter in 12" skillet over medium heat. Add chicken rolls. Brown all sides. Add bouillion and wine and reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove cover and let simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes. Remove chicken and skewers/toothpicks.

Mix cornstarch and half and half in cup until well blended. Add to skillet and stir constantly. Cook until thickened.

Serve sauce with chicken and egg noodles.

Enjoy!

Tostones

Monday, August 24, 2009

As you can tell, I'm on a Spanish kick lately. I decided to surprise my husband with his favorite snack - Tostones. Tostones are fried green plantains and they're like sweet little potato chips. I usually get the greenest plantain because that's what he likes. The more green they are, the more tart they are.

The traditional way of flattening the plaintain after they are precooked is using a plantain press. If you do not have one, you can just flatten them with a ramekin or even a pint glass.

Tostones

2 large plaintains
1/3 c oil

Peel plantains with knife. Cut plantain in a diagonal (like you would for bruschetta), about 3/4" thick.

Fry plaintains in oil for about 2 minutes and flip. Cook additional 2 minutes. Put on paper towel to remove excess oil. Let sit for about 5 minutes.

Flatten plantain in a plantain press or ramekin. Fry flattened plantains for about 3 minutes per side or until both sides are golden brown. Put on paper towel to remove excess oil and salt both sides. Serve still warm.

If you want to try something a little different, you can put some minced garlic on the cooked tostones.

Empanadas

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Empanadas are a great little snack that is quite filling. The best thing about empanadas, you can fill them with whatever you want. You can use meat, cheese or even fill it with pizza sauce and mozzarella and create a deep fried pizza. When we were in Puerto Rico, I had crab filled ones and they were delicious!

This recipe will serve two but you can easily double it.

Empanadas

1/2 lb. ground sirloin
2 tbsp. Sofrito
4 oz. Goya Tomato Sauce
1 package Sazon Goya
Salt and Pepper
12 green olives (optional)
1 package Goya Discos (I use the white ones)
1/2 c. oil





Brown meat on medium heat. Add sofrito, tomato sauce, sazon and olives. Stir until combined. Turn heat down to low and let simmer for 5 minutes.



Fill disco with 2 tbsp. of meat mixture. Fold over and seal with fingers. Crimp edge with fork. Flip disco and crimp other side with fork.



Heat oil. Fry empanadas over medium/medium high heat until brown on both sides. Drain on paper towel.



Enjoy!

Click on slideshow below for direction:

Empanadas

California Iced Tea

Thursday, August 20, 2009

We had this drink in Baltimore in May and I fell in love with it. This iced tea/lemonade mixture a nice refreshing drink on a hot day. If you want to spice it up a little, just add a shot of vodka to your glass.

You can use any type of regular tea for this recipe. I used Earl Grey Tea and it tasted great.

California Iced Tea

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemons (about 5 lemons)
4 tea bags
8 cups of water (4 c. hot and 4 c. cold)
1/2 cup sugar

Boil 4 cups of water and add tea bags. Let them sit for about 10 minutes. Remove tea bags and let tea cool.

Juice lemons and add to a big pitcher. Pour 4 cups of cold water and sugar to pitcher. Stir. When tea has cooled, add to pitcher. Refrigerate for at least an hour or until cold.

Serve with ice and a slice of lemon.

Enjoy!

Beans in Stew (Habichuelas Guisadas)

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

When my husband and I got engaged, my mother in-law invited me into her kitchen and taught me a few things about Spanish cooking. To this day, I cannot make arroz con pollo for the life of me and have not mastered making white rice. If you don't have time to make white rice or have issues like I do, purchase a rice cooker (it's my new best friend) or stop by your local Chinese restaurant and pick up a quart of rice.

Anyway, this is a great side dish to go along with chicken, steak or even pork chops.

Beans in Stew (Habichuelas Guisadas)

1 tbsp. oil - either Canola or Olive Oil
2 tbsp. Sofrito

1 envelope Sazon Goya

1 envelope/cube chicken bouillion

4 oz Goya Tomato Sauce

1 medium potato - peeled and chopped into small cubes

1 15.5 oz. can small red kidney beans - drained and rinsed

1 cup water

2 cups cooked white rice

On low heat in a medium pot, heat oil and sofrito. Add Sazon Goya and chicken bouillon - cook for about 2 minutes. Add tomato sauce and potato cubes and simmer for 2 minutes. Add beans and simmer for about 5 minutes. Raise heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover pot. Cook for about 10-15 minutes. If sauce is loose, uncover pot and cook for additional 5 minutes.

Serve over white rice.

Enjoy!

Sofrito

Sofrito... one of the staples in Spanish cooking. This was one of the first recipes my mother in-law taught me because it goes in just about EVERYTHING!! The best thing about it, once you make it, throw it in a big container and freeze it. Then, when you need it, chop off what you need and it'll thaw right in the pan.

Sofrito

2 green peppers

1 bunch cilantro

3 medium spanish onions

2 bulbs of garlic, peeled

Chop onion and garlic into chunks that will fit in a food processor or blender. Add all ingredients to blender and blend until well combined.

Pour in a freezer proof rectangular 13x9 container and cover with plastic wrap. Store in freezer.

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Are you sick of just regular meatballs and spaghetti? I wanted something a little different and played with my mother's recipe of regular meatballs. This is what I came up with. For the mozzarella, you can use boccaccini mozzarella (the little balls) or you can just buy fresh mozzarella and cut it into bite size pieces.

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

1 lb. ground sirloin

1/2 c Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 c parmesan romano cheese - grated

1 egg

2 tbsp grated onion

2 garlic cloves - minced

6 boccaccini fresh mozzarella cheese balls

Mix all but mozzarella in a large ball. Take about a handful of mixture and flatten it out in palm. Add mozzarella ball and form 'meatball' around cheese. You should have about 6 medium meatballs or 8 small meatballs - depending on the size you like.

Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat. Before adding meatballs to oil, wet hands with water and roll meatball with hands. I find this helps keep a tight seal and the meatballs are less likely to leak. Fry meatballs until brown and drain on paper towel.

Serve with spaghetti of choice and some sauce. Enjoy!