Not Your Normal Turkey Burgers

Today is/was a beautiful day. It was warm. There was a breeze. I got to spend my time outside mowing grass. Perfect day if you ask me.

However, I did stupidly wear a bright fuscia sports bra under my white shirt today. And after an hour of sweating the shirt looks tie-dyed perfectly around the boob area. Perfectly.

I really hope it comes out. I really liked that white shirt.

So, I'm not really a huge red meat fan. I'll chose something else, anything else, over it any day. But sometimes you just want a big juicy burger, because there is nothing like bitting into a burger. At least during the grilling season. I solve my dilemma of hating red meat, but liking burgers by substituting the red meat for turkey or chicken. This recipe is the result of it.

Turkey Burgers

1 lb ground turkey

2 chipotle in adobo sauce, chopped (plus a tblsp of the sauce)

1/2 large red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c feta cheese

1 package frozen spinach, thawed

2 tblsp your favorite grill seasoning

Sauce

1 c greek yogurt

2 tbslp adobo sauce

It couldn't be easier. Just mix all ingredients together until everything is evenly through the meat. You don't want to overwork your meat, so only mix as much as necessary to make sure every bite has all ingredients.

Form into patty size of your choice. But remember they shrink and swell. So, I tend to make small patties but make an indent in the middle so they cook into flat burgers.

Grill 4-5 minutes on high heat to get the grill marks we all know and love. I generally then move mine to lower heat to finish cooking. It will probably take another 5 minutes, depending on patty size.

While the burgers are grilling, mix the greek yogurt and adobo sauce. Let chill until ready to serve.

Let your burger rest a few minutes before serving. Once ready top with yogurt sauce and serve on a toasted bun of your choice. Let me know what you think and what have you substituted for red meat?

Cranberry and Ham Crescent Rolls

Where does the time go? Im pretty sure everyone feels the same way, but this week has flown by. I don't know where the days are going.

 I spent an hour printing a powerpoint presentation out at work. It felt like 20 mins of messing, but before I knew it I spent an hour in the work room waiting for the print jobs to spool. Remind me never to put large graphics in powerpoint presentations that are 60 slides long.

So, when you spend all day printing (okay, an hour) things you just want to come home and make something easy.

This is the result of easy. Not the healthiest thing in my list of recipes, but the easiest indeed.

Cranberry and Ham Crescent Rolls

1 lb cooked ham, diced

1 c whole berry cranberry sauce

1 container pillsbury crescent rolls

Pop open the container of crescent rolls and spread them out. Put about 2 tablespoons of the diced ham on the wider side, top with a tablespoon of cranberry sauce and roll. Bake on a parchment covered pan as indicated on the package or until crescent is golden brown.

Also, I'm pretty sure you can stuff anything into a crescent roll and it will taste amazing. Cream cheese, jelly, hot dogs all turn out well. So, I'm curious as to what you've stuffed into your crescent rolls. Anything interesting? Let me know!

Tofu Vindaloo

If you ask me, I think tofu is pretty scary. It doesn't look or taste like much and sometimes the texture seems a little...risque (as far as things that I willingly put in my mouth go). However, years and years ago I had it made for me and it was rather good. So, I decided to give it another go since I'm eating healthier and looking for meat substitutes.

There are definitely some cooking pros to tofu though. For instance, it pretty much will take on any flavor you want it to. All you need to add to it are spices or some sort of marinade. 

So, in order to make this as flavorful as possible I decided to go with the only recipe I know that is stock full of spices. A vindaloo. Vindaloo is a very hot indian curry, which I also had made for me years and years ago. This recipe has a lot of kick due to the cayenne pepper, so use as much of it as YOU like.

Vindaloo Spice Mix

1 tblsp ginger, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 onion, diced

1 tsp coriander

2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp tumeric

1/2 tsp ground mustard seed

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

 1/2 tsp paprika

2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tblsp srirachi sauce

4 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

Tofu Vindaloo

1 package firm tofu

1 (15 oz) can peas

1 (15 oz) can beans

1 (15 oz) can roasted tomatoes

Vindaloo Spice Mix

Coat bottom of pan in pam. Brown tofu, turning so brown on each side, much like you would with chicken.

Mix together all the vindaloo spice mix ingredients until creamy and then pour over the browned tofu. Cook 5 minutes. Add the roasted tomatoes and simmer for 5 mins. Then add beans and peas and cook until warmed through.

You can serve the tofu vindaloo over brown rice or noodles. It is really flavorful and provides a good spicy kick, so be sure to use as much of the cayenne pepper and srirachi sauce you enjoy.

Chicken and Beef Shish Kebabs

My dog and I are off to the vet today. She has grown quite weary of the vet in her old age. She shakes like a leaf soon as we enter the door. In her defense, she has gone through quite a lot there. 2 major surgeries and 2 minor ones. So, it's safe to say she knows the deal and it's rarely a good one.

When she was a puppy she would put anything and everything into her mouth. When we first got her, within the first two days she became very sick. We found out that she had a bouncy ball lodged in her intestines. I have no idea where the bouncy ball came from. We had no kids running around, so there weren't any bouncy balls running around either. I'm pretty sure that was our first sign that she was going to be.....something else.

Since then she has found a way to eat an entire bar of soap, tin foil, my favorite shoes, an entire chicken and the list goes on. None of those did any harm, in fact she gained the ability to blow bubbles out her butt and we were able to test tin foils advertising as non-stick. FYI, it truly is. Nothing stuck to it, it came out cleaner than it went in.  She has provided us with a book load of memories, days of unconditional love and uninterrupted listening, hours of cuddling, and minutes of nose nudging.

Now that she is 11 1/2 she doesn't run as fast as she used to and her arthritis makes it difficult to jump up on the bed. She also has these small strawberry looking growths, which is common to her breed. She has had a few of them removed, and that is what we are going to the vet for today. To have one on her rectum checked out. 

This is her opening up a christmas gift this past Christmas.

During the summer, her and I both love to spend our days outside. These days she loves to just lay around and soak up some vitamin D. 

I'm sure I've said before how much I love to grill when the weather is beautiful. Yesterday I grilled some marinated chicken and beef shish kebabs. They turned out rather well, so I thought I'd share the recipe with you. I used two different marinades, one for the chicken and one for the beef.

Chicken Agave Marinade
1/2 c agave nectar
7 oz pineapple juice
1/4 soy sauce
1/4 teriyaki sauce
4 ramps or shallots, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced

You will also need for the chicken kebabs:
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, cubed
1 red onion, cubed
1 red pepper, cubed
1 green pepper, cubed
3 c pineapple, cubed

Beef Beer Marinade
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tblsp black pepper
1 tblsp red pepper flakes
1 tblsp smoked paprika
1/2 c beer
2 tblsp vinegar

You will also need for the beef kebabs:
2 lbs beef, cubed
1 white onion, cubed
1 green pepper, cubed
3 c mushrooms, cubed


To prepare: If using wooden skewers soak in water over night or as long as possible. Prepare marinades, by combining all ingredients in a large liquid measuring cup.  Use 1/2 to marinade meat and 1/2 to marinade vegetables. For the chicken kebabs, I used 1/2 of the marinade for the chicken, 1/4 for the vegetables and 1/4 was reserved to turn into a sauce. Marinade meat and vegetables for at least 1 hour or over night.

To prepare skewers layer vegetables and meat in any order desired. I used the vegetables and meat combinations listed above, but you can use any combination you might like. However, you want to try to pick meat and vegetable cubes that are the same size to place on a skewer, so that everything cooks in the same amount of time.

I started grilling the chicken kebabs first, because chicken takes a little longer than steak or beef. Grill on high heat to get a good sear and then move to lower heat to finish cooking. Make sure the chicken has reached an internal temperature of about 165 F. About mid way through the chicken, I added the beef kebabs. Grill the beef on high heat to your liking.

You should rotate the kebabs to grill on all sides. If the meat easily pulls off the grill plate, then the kebabs are ready to be turned. Take the reserve chicken marinade and bring to a boil in a saucepan. Whisk in 1/2 tblsp cornstarch and lower heat to a simmer. Cook until it thickens. You can baste the chicken kebabs with this the last 5 minutes of grilling.

I served this on top of a bed of rice. They were easy and looked rather pretty, if I do say so myself. 

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Flank Steak

I spent the entire last evening planting. Keeping up with a large garden is hard work. We have a very short growing season. And this year's growing season seems a little off kilter already. We went from winter straight to summer it seems. One week it was 30 the next 90 degrees; which makes it very hard to plant and maintain things. Try tilling dirt in 90 degree weather or better yet mixing manure or compost. Heat and manure is a deadly combination, I promise. 

So, with all that, dinner had to be simple and done outside on the grill. Warm weather calls for outdoor cooking in my book, especially when you only get to do it a few months out of the year. 

Also, you know what I love?  Great fake out meals. You know, the ones that look like they took hours and seem really impressive, but were super easy to prepare. That is just what this recipe is. Everyone will be impressed, because it looks fancy; but it's totally not. All you need is 5 mins to prepare and a few ingredients. 

This recipe calls for flank steak, so here are a few facts for you to ponder. For the most part flank steaks are all about the same, they range from 1 to 2 pounds in weight and are usually ~12 inches long, ~6 inches wide and an inch thick. They are like this because of their location on the cow. Flank steaks come from behind the rib cage, beneath the loin and in front of the rear legs. They are also a lot leaner than a skirt steak and the muscle composition is very evident. There is a lot to picking the right cut of meat, let alone deciding which flank steak looks the best. In any case, here are a few tips on picking the right flank steak: 

1. make sure the steak is uniform in width to aid in even cooking

2. be sure it has a nice dark red color-closest comparison is probably to a bing cherry (so no brown looking meat)

3. look for marbling or spidery white lines running through it (in general because flank steak is so lean the more marbling the better-it really is what gives your steak flavor when the fat melds into the meat while cooking)

4. last but not least, make sure it does NOT smell! Nobody wants stinky meat! ;)

By the way, I spied this recipe on Family Circle awhile ago, if you want to go check it out and others like it.

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Flank Steak

2 lb flank steak

1 15 oz jar roasted red peppers, diced

1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1 clove garlic, minced

8 oz feta cheese, chunked

salt and pepper

Flatten your flank steak by pounding it with a meat tenderizer. I also let it sit with a little lemon juice to soften up the muscle. While your steak is resting, mix together red peppers, spinach, garlic and cheese. Sprinkle your steak with salt and pepper and then spread the mixture evenly across as pictured. It would probably be best to leave a 1 inch border, because I had to stuff some of the stuffing back in.

Roll the steak up, pressing tightly as you go. Tie it up in 3 locations using butcher's twine or cotton string. Now salt and pepper the outside as well. Pay attention to the grain of the meat and which way it is running.

Next I seared the outsides of my steak on a 500 degree grill. You need a very hot grill to get a nice sear. Once all sides were nicely seared  I wrapped it up in foil and moved it to the low heat side of my grill. I  let it cook there for 20 mins.

It looks like this when it first comes off the grill, as tempting as it is you need to let it rest for ~10 mins. If you cut into it too soon, all the juices run out.

Slice the steak against the grain and it will look all lovely and beautiful, and like you spent hours preparing this dish.

                           Serve a top a mountain of grilled romaine like so, or anything you've got on hand. 

Just a little fyi, hearts of romaine are amazing grilled. Sounds a little crazy, right? Lettuce? Grilled? I promise, drizzle on some olive oil, sprinkle on some salt and pepper and you've got yourself a tasty side dish. It surprised my entire family, go ahead give it a try and let it surprise yours too. 

Apricot Chicken

Hello, hello, hello.  I've spent a great deal of time today trying to capture a picture of a hummingbird. Patience was probably key. Unfortunately, I don't have very much of that. Well, I guess it actually depends on the situation. I'm pretty patient with my students, but that's about it.

The hummingbird was elusive and hasty. So, I set up a tripod, changed the settings on my camera and waited. I'm still trying to figure out how to capture a bright picture with a very high shutter speed and a small aperture without boosting up the ISO. I would just like to be able to get rid of the graininess. Anyway, this is the result.

So, I saw this 'diet cleanse' online. It looked pretty interesting and doable so I thought I'd give it a try. It was only 7 days and anyone can do anything for 7 days if they really want to, right? It was something like only eat fruit on the first day, only vegetables and a baked potato on the second day, on the third day you can have both, etc. Well, today was day one so I was to eat only fruit.

Do you know what fruit consists of? SUGAR and WATER. That was never made more apparent than today. Ok, there are some other nutrients and minerals in fruits, but nothing that makes you go mmmm that was good, I'm totally not hungry any more.

I tried drinking glasses of water, but that too was no successful trick for my growling stomach. So, I made it until 5 pm and decided I was done. There is no way that I can work out for an hour a day and only live on fruit.

Be that as it may, it did inspire me.....to pair fruit with my chicken! That is exactly what I've done. I've made this chicken a few times. I have no idea where the original recipe came from, it's pretty much just how I remember to do it now.

Apricot Chicken

6 boneless skinless chicken strips

1/2 lb dried apricots, halved

1 medium vidalia onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 to 3/4 c chicken broth

1/2 c apricot preserves
1 tblsp cornstarch
2 tblsp water

splash of olive oil

salt and pepper

Splash a bit of olive oil on the bottom of skillet just to cover it. Salt and pepper both sides of chicken and saute in skillet until brown. The brown stuff on the bottom of the skillet is needed for flavor, so just let the chicken go. 

Prepare onions, garlic and apricots like so.......

Remove the browned chicken and add onions and garlic. Add a little salt and pepper. Saute until soft.

Add apricots and warm through. Then add the chicken stock to deglaze the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil. Make a slurry out of the cornstarch and water (mix them together well in a cup) and add to the apricot sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Lower the heat to a simmer. Cut the chicken into chunks and place back in skillet. Let the flavors meld together for ~15 mins. 

You can serve this chicken over a bed of rice or pair it with any sort of vegetable you like, either way it's pretty delicious for its simplicity. Give it a try! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Spaghetti Bread

I love holidays. There should be at least one a month. That way most everyone can have off work at the same time, slow down their busy lives and spend some time together.

Yesterday our family had a cookout and I got to spend time with some of my family. Particularly with my little buddy, who happens to be three. We hunted a lot of bad guys, killed a lot of bugs (aphids to be exact), built a scorpion house  and laughed until our stomachs hurt. And all too soon the day comes to an end and we all go home our separate ways.

So, I've seen these stuffed breads all over pinterest. Months ago I tried one stuffed with broccoli, chicken and cheese. It was really good. This time I decided to try one stuffed with spaghetti. It turned out rather well. I was inspired by a picture on pinterest and this is my take on it.

Spaghetti Bread

1 16 oz package of uncooked spaghetti

1-1/2 16 oz cans of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I used a homemade one from our local market)

1 green pepper, diced

1 onion, diced

1 lb ground beef

1 tblsp garlic powder

2 tubes of your favorite biscuit ( I used pillsbury grands homestyle)

1/2 grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

1 egg white

your favorite seasoning

Cook spaghetti in salted water as package suggests (keep the spaghetti water-just in case you need it to loosen up the sauce). While the spaghetti is cooking brown the ground beef. Once the beef is browned remove grease if any and add the onion, green pepper, garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste. Allow onion and green pepper to saute until soft and then add the spaghetti sauce. Add the cooked spaghetti to sauce. Let simmer together for 15 mins. If the sauce and spaghetti becomes to dry or too tight add a ladle full of the spaghetti water.  While the sauce is simmering prepare biscuits.

Pop both cans of biscuits and patch them together on a piece of foil. They will come together if you pinch together the seams well and then use a rolling pin to spread into a large square about 1/2 inch thick. Then cut slits about 2 inches apart into the edge of the dough, as pictured on the right.

Add spaghetti and sauce down the center of the dough. Top with parmesan cheese. Pull the pieces of dough up around the spaghetti and weave it like a basket, under and over. As you can see from the picture on the left, the weaving turned into a disaster by the time I reached the end. If you have patience and good technique I'm sure this would turn out beautiful. Either way it tastes fantastic. Brush on an egg white wash and sprinkle with your favorite seasoning or just salt and pepper.

Place the bread on a cookie sheet and bake at 350F or 25 mins or until golden brown. Let cool slightly, slice and then enjoy!

Black Bean Quinoa Burger with Honey Yogurt Sauce

A burger without meat....my family scoffs at the idea. My family is a meat and potatoes kind of family, living in a very meat and potato kind of area. That of rural Pennsylvania. It sometimes seems that I'm the sole proprietor of a reduced intake of meats and processed foods and an increase in green leafy vegetables.

I am slowly getting to my family though, because I've started winning them over with dishes like this one. Quinoa burgers with black beans and corn. There is no lack of flavor here. Or a lack of heartiness. What it is lacking though is cholesterol, fat and calories. It's a win-win if you ask me. I've talked about quinoa in a previous post (quinoa salad), so I'm not going to bore you with the information again.

However, I am going to mention a documentary that has become pretty popular as of late. It's called Forks over Knives. If you don't trust the documentary go look up the science, you'll notice that there is a benefit to the diet they recommend. But, I'll save that for another time.

I found this recipe online at Prevention RD.

Anyway, I present to you.....

Black Bean Quinoa Burgers with Honey Yogurt Sauce

Burgers

½ cup dry quinoa

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 red onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 Tbsp tomato paste

1 large egg

2/3 cup frozen corn

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1 chipotle in adobo, minced

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup almond flour

Yogurt Sauce

½ cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt

1 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Cook the quinoa in 1 cup water, as suggested on the package. Set aside for later. Saute onions and garlic in oil until tender or translucent, salt and pepper to taste. Cool slightly and add to a large bowl, also add the black beans. Smash together the onions, garlic and black beans and then add the quinoa. Mix.

Stir in the tomato paste, egg, corn, add chipotle in adobo sauce. Then add the almond flour, oats and cumin. Mix and salt and pepper to taste.

You can refrigerate this mixture to allow for easy patty formation, or form the patties first and then refrigerate. The refrigeration is key. If they don't set (for about an hour) they tend to fall apart. Place patties on a greased baking sheet and bake for 10-12 mins per side at 400F. 

While the burgers are chilling or baking make the yogurt sauce. It's as easy as pie (if pie was easy). Just mix the greek yogurt, honey and mustard together and chill. This sauce is pretty great for how simple it is. I used the leftovers for chicken the next day. After the burgers are done, top them with whatever your little heart desires. I chose some spinach and tomatoes, sans bread. 

I hope you enjoy this little burger and let me know if I've convinced you to forgo meat for a day ;). 

Grilled Steak Sandwich

It's finally starting to get nice out. Well at least there have been a few days thrown in here and there where you could walk outside in a t-shirt and shorts and no one would look at you funny. I even got to run outside last week. It was fabulous, except for the fact that they were spreading lime through the fields. However, at that point nothing could dampen my mood. The other thing that the warm weather gets me excited about is the ability to grill out. So, that's what I did. And this recipe is what I came up with.

Grilled Steak Sandwiches

1 loaf rye bread

1 lb. steak (shaved or thinly cut)

brown mustard

Grillmates steak rub

1 large green pepper (thickly sliced)

1 large red onion (thickly sliced)

feta cheese

butter

3 tblsp. mayo

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

3 tblsp. basil, chopped

salt and pepper

Cover steak (any cut of your choice-go cheap, there really is no need to buy a really expensive cut) in brown mustard and then the steak rub of your choice (I used Grillmates onion and garlic). Massage the mustard and seasoning into the meat and then let come to room temperature. While allowing the steak to sit, prepare mayo. Mix together mayo, garlic and basil and chill for at least 20 mins. Prepare peppers and red onion for grilling by covering them in olive oil and salt and pepper and wrapping in foil.

Heat grill to 500 degrees F to get a good sear on the steak and vegetables. Start grilling the vegetables first and let cook for ~10 mins. Then grill the steak, 1-2 mins on each side since it is so thin. You could get a whole flank steak, grill it and then thinly slice it against the grain. However, I had bought the meat from the butcher already sliced and this worked out fine.

Reduce the heat on the grill.

Now to assemble the sandwich. Cut rye bread in thick slices, butter one side of each slice of bread. Slather the mayo on both slices of bread on the sides opposing the butter. Layer steak, feta cheese, green peppers and onions on the mayo side. Throw them down on the grill, and use a spatula to press them down, much like a panini. Grill 4 or so mins on each side, or until cheese is all melty and gooey.

Obviously the possibilities are endless with this sandwhich. You can put whatever combination of vegetables on it you want. The sandwich in the picture is lacking green peppers and onions, but does contain mild pepper rings because that is what my sister-in-law wanted. I forgot to take pictures of all the other sandwiches assembled that day. oops. In any case, I really like the combination I suggested in this recipe. The recipe makes 4-5 sandwiches, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Cranberried Pork Chops

My brother insists that I put cranberries in everything, from vegetables to meat. I disagree, but if it's true it's because cranberries are delicious. They are the perfect combination of sweet and tart. They can add dramatic flavor to just about anything in just a small amount of time.

Anyway, I suggest you give these cranberry pork chops a try. I paired them with mashed sweet potatoes and peas for dinner, but I'm sure they'll go well with just about anything.

I saw a version of this recipe somewhere a long time ago. I apologize for not knowing where. This is my version.

Cranberried Pork Chops

4 pork loin chops

1 can whole berry cranberry sauce

1/4 c. chicken stock

1/4 c. + (3 tblsp for slurry) sugar-free cranberry juice 

1/2 c. apricot jam

1 tblsp honey

2 tsp. ground cloves

1 tblsp corn starch

salt and pepper

Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops. Brown both sides of chop in skillet with a little bit of olive oil. You want to get a good sear on the pork chops. Remove pork chops. Add chicken stock and juice to deglaze the bottom of the skillet. Add cranberries, apricot jam (really you could add any sort of jam that would pair with cranberries, think orange marmalade or pineapple), honey and ground cloves. Bring to boil. Make a slurry with the cornstarch and 3 tblsp of cranberry juice and then add it to the skillet. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring back to a boil if needed, then lower temperature to simmer. Place pork chops back in the skillet and simmer for 15-20 mins until sauce has thickened. 

Just in case you didn't know a slurry is just a semiliquid mixture. Here it acts as a thickening agent. All it requires is that you mix cornstarch or flour with a liquid and in this case the juice until it is smooth and contains no lumps. When added to a sauce and boiled it will thicken anything. I don't suggest just adding cornstarch directly to the sauce, because it is difficult to get rid of all the lumps.

Cranberried Kielbasa

Apologies, apologies, my sincerest apologies for not keeping up with my blog posts the last two weeks. We went on vacation for a week (which I may turn my travel destination into a blog post at some point), I had interviews and orientations. All excuses, so I apologize for my lack of dedication.

This blog post comes in the midst of my preparation of a lecture on protists. I needed a break from ameobas and slime mold, so I bring to you Cranberried Kielbasa.

It's easy, it's tasty, it's cheap. It goes with rice. It goes with noodles. It's adaptable and versatile, much like those protists.

Cranberried Kielbasa

2 large links (~1-1/2 lb) polish kielbasa 

2 15 oz cans whole cranberries

3/4 c brown sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)

1 c ketchup

Cut kielbasa links into 1 inch slices, add to slow cooker with remaining ingredients and mix. If it seems a little dry, add a touch of water. Cook in slow cooker for 2-3 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low. The longer you let this cook in the slower cooker the better it gets, the flavors come together so nicely. Serve over some cooked rice or buttered noodles.

Stromboli

My mom has always been good at feeding a lot of mouths with bottomless pits as stomaches.  An individual stromboli for 7 people could become time consuming, don't ya think? So, why not just make one gigantic one? Hence, this recipe.

I've watched my mom make this stromboli probably a hundred times, and I've made it at least 20 times. Never has it been difficult. Until I watched her do it today. The dough was impossible to work with, but we managed. She blames the fact that I was taking pictures. It was too much pressure, she said. I blame the humidity. When something doesn't turn out, I always blame the weather/environment. If my cookies are flat..it's the humidity. If my dough doesn't rise, it's the humidity. It would never have anything to do with my abilities. No, never.

What you need: cheese and lots of it (mozzarella, brick and provolone), ham, sandwich pepperoni, green peppers, onions and betty crocker pizza crust

Prepare the dough as stated on package (just add water) and let rise. Once it has at least doubled in size you want to take 1 package of the dough and stretch and pull until it is about the size of a cookie sheet.

Add lots and lots of cheese, Id say about 3 cups, mixing the different kinds. Then add green peppers and onions, as you can see not all of us like them, so it's only on half. Then add sliced ham and the pepperoni.

Add more cheese, roughly another 3 cups of the mixtures. I know, it's a lot of cheese. Honestly, add as much or as little as you want.

Here is where things got a little 'sticky' for us today. You want to roll out the remaining dough (the second package) to the same size as the bottom layer. Roll it out on wax paper so you can lay it on top to judge and easily transfer it to the stromboli. Normally this works very well. You roll it out, lay it on top and just pull the wax paper off. Today it wouldn't roll out as large as needed. We struggled and struggled. Eventually got it there, laid it on top and tried pulling it off the wax paper. It was a no go. It ripped into pieces. We left the remaining pieces on top, made another package of the dough and then layered it on top in patches. Just like if you were patching a pair of pants. Luckily the dough was very sticky and it worked rather well.

TADA! Yeah, not the prettiest. It is tasty though.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 mins or until crust is golden brown. After removing, let cool for 10 mins before cutting so the cheese has a chance to set. Then cut into pieces. Makes roughly 10 pieces.

Stromboli

2 c brick cheese, grated

2 c provolone cheese, grated

2 c mozzarella cheese, grated

1 green pepper

1 medium onion

6-10 slices of sliced ham

15 slices sandwich pepperoni

2-3 packages betty crocker pizza crust

Penne in a Vodka Cream Sauce

We have this little tradition in my family where on your birthday you get to pick any meal and any dessert you want and it's made for you. No questions asked. No matter the trouble it may be. My mom or I are the ones that get the honor. Usually it's a joint conquest. And really, it's probably one of my favorite things to do. I love cooking for people and what better gift than to stuff someone full of the very foods they love.

Yesterday was my sister-in-laws birthday. Her and my brother also just celebrated their 1st anniversary. So, lots to celebrate. Her birthday choice was Penne in a Vodka Sauce. Simple enough, right? Except I've never actually made vodka cream sauce. I'm not totally sure why. Maybe it's because I don't thoroughly enjoy tomato sauces, and not too many people have asked me to make a tomato sauce for them. No worries though, I'm always up for new food adventures. And this one really is rather simple. Plus, I knew just the right person to call.

So, I have this friend Sol, who works on Block Island. A little island off the coast of RI. It's quite magnificent. Magnificent enough for you to plan your next vacation there. He works in this little restaurant called Narragansett Inn. A New England seafood restaurant with an italian feel, as he describes it. I'm not quite sure how you can mix those two so eloquently, but apparently it's possible as this little place is just as magnificent as the island itself. He, of course, was the right person to call.

Our conversation went a little something like this. Me: "Hey, do you have a recipe for vodka sauce?" Sol: "Yeah, it's the simplest thing. Just heat up some oil, throw in some onions and garlic until, you know, they start to brown. Toss in some vodka to deglaze, catch on fire, that whole thing. Add homemade tomato sauce and cream, salt/pepper." Me: "uhhuh. mmmhmm." Sol: "Later. Oh, let me know how it goes." Me: "Wait! I want to roast the tomatoes." Sol: "Don't roast the tomatoes. The whole point of vodka sauce is the simplicity." Me: "But, I really want to roast the tomatoes. I like roasted tomatoes." Sol: Crystal, do NOT roast the tomatoes! Bye."

All I have to say is thank goodness I'm not exactly food illiterate. I mean how is one supposed to know how much of anything I'm supposed to add? And homemade tomato sauce, that seems like a process! Oh and needless to say he calls back 8 hours later with "I forgot to tell you to use shallots and some parm!" No kidding Sol, no kidding.

Anyway, this is what I did:

I made my own tomato sauce by infusing oil with garlic. I love infusing things. It just adds an extra depth of flavor. To do this I sliced up 10 cloves of garlic and added enough extra virgin olive oil to cover the garlic entirely. I let this simmer on med/low for 45 mins. I also added some red pepper flakes, but forgot to take a picture.

I then added a can of plum tomatoes, salt and pepper. It took all I had to not use fresh roasted tomatoes. I squeezed the tomatoes with my hands to break them up a bit before putting them in the pot. The tomatoes I had already had basil in them or else I would have added fresh basil too. I let this simmer together on the stove for roughly an hour, while I went and did some other things. It will seem like the oil and tomatoes separate, but with time and some whisking they come together perfectly.

I then started making the vodka cream sauce. I sauteed the onions in butter until brown (I really recommend not using nonstick skillets for things like this, because you just don't get that brown color and flavor stuck to the bottom of the pan. Unfortunately, this was all I had on hand.) I added the garlic. Garlic tends to get bitter, so I generally add it a few mins before the onions are finished. Add the vodka. It cooks off instantly, but deglazes the brown bits of onion off the bottom of the skillet perfectly. Then I added the tomato sauce and let that all simmer for roughly 20 mins.  At the very end I added cream till the sauce turns an orangish/pink color. I let that warm through.

I cooked the penne till al dente in salted water and then added it to the sauce. I let it simmer for 15 mins, and added some grated parmesan cheese to finish it off.

Chiffonade (stack the leaves, roll and cut) some basil and garnish. Looks pretty good if I do say so myself. And it didn't taste half bad either ;)

Tomato Sauce

10 cloves sliced garlic

~1 c extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

28 oz can peeled plum tomatoes

salt/pepper

Penne in a Vodka Cream Sauce

1 diced onion

2 cloves diced garlic

2 tbsp butter

tomato sauce (above)

1/4 c vodka

1/4 c heavy cream

penne rigata, cooked 

salt/pepper

parmesan cheese

fresh basil