Anyway, I am LOVING the new book. I went to my mom’s for a week and forgot it, which thoroughly pissed me off. I’m hoping to finish it this weekend (4 hour car ride for vacation) and start cooking it next week. I swear it won’t be 3 months til you hear from me again, and never again will it take me 3 months to get through a book. I promise!

Anyway, onto some amazing news! I was in NY last week, and while I was in town, the always fabulous Giulia Melucci (of our first book, I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti, was doing a reading in SoHo. My sister came with me, and I loved it! She read a great part of the book…about her first encounter with Ethan and his school of cooking (I swear, buy the book!). She also prepared two dishes for everyone to try. One was one of my favorites – her Healthy Penne with broccoli and raisins. The other, I hadn’t made yet – because my hubs is not a fan of eggplant. She made Lachlan’s Rigatoni with eggplant. AAAAAAnd it was delicious. We both gobbled up plates. I would have taken that tray of pasta and dashed out the door if I could.

I did get some time to chat with Giulia and she was super sweet. She remembered our blog (and Marilla, because really, who forgets her?) I bought another copy of the book. Yes. I did. I figured I could use my hardcover for recipes and keep the paperback that she signed for me on the shelf. AND in the paperback version, there’s an extra chapter! So I had to buy it. Of course. Always an excuse to shop with me!!

Anyway, thank you Giulia for taking the time to chat with me!

Giulia and I at her reading at McNally Jackson Books.

So, let’s see. This is my first post on Garlic & Sapphires. I am really enjoying the book so far. I got really into it quite early and blew through the first 100 pages or so. It’s been sitting on my nightstand waiting to be read for the last week and a half though, not gonna lie (did you see the part about 5 classes? Yeah.). So I’m hoping to get through some more of it sooner rather than later, because I’m really enjoying it. It’s definitely quite different from our last book, but interesting and a completely different point of view.

So the first recipe I came across was Ruth’s cheesecake. Well, no offense to Ruth, but sorry. My cheesecake is awesome. It’s the only one my husband will eat, and I’m not about to mess with what he calls perfection. So that recipe was out, immediately. I kept reading and came across something I’ve been dying to make… risotto. A little backstory on this part of the book- Ruth decided she was going to review Le Cirque restaurant. She went in complete disguise, as the “unknown diner.” The treatment she received from a supposed 4 star restaurant was appalling. Servers were rude, inconsiderate, and treated her like she didn’t exist. And her food was pretty crappy, from the sound of it. Not something I’d want if I was spending $40 on a plate of risotto. She returned later as herself, no disguise, and in a packed restaurant with people waiting forever, she was greeted by the owner, “The King of Spain is waiting at the bar, but your table is ready.” Well, needless to say, this visit was all bells and whistles and the finest of everything. She still took a star away. Good for her. She took a lot of shit for that review and taking away that star, but I love a woman who doesn’t give a shit and tells it like it is.

Anyway, so she talked about her adaptation of Le Cirque’s Lobster Risotto. She mentioned being a lobster snob (as am I) and refusing to do lobster at home where so much of the lobster would go to waste. Now, she also “demands” that you use homemade chicken stock. Well, sorry lady, but a 2 year old does not allow for that kind of time or energy. I bought chicken stock. It tasted fine. If you have the time, go for it. If I had some more time, I might try to do that next time, but for the first attempt, I was happy. She also replaced the rosemary in the dish with saffron. I used rosemary. I had it at home, and it was yummy.

But, for my first attempt, I was pleasantly surprised. I made it last night for dinner, with some shrimp that was sauteed in garlic and olive oil. It was really delicious. Madeline loved it, so that was a plus in my book. Brett ate his reheated and he said it was awesome. Thumbs up for me… he’s my own food critic, and can be a pretty snobby one. I attribute that to the amazing palette he has – he can taste such subtle differences that it’s a pretty awesome gauge when I make a flawless dish. So, here you go -

Risotto Primavera

You need:
1/2 pound asparagus
5-6 cups homemade chicken stock*
1/2 teaspoon saffron strands, crumbled**
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, diced
1 smallish carrot, diced
2 small zucchini, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup thawed frozen peas
1/2 cup Parmigiano cheese, plus extra for table
salt and pepper to taste

Then you should:
Cut the tips off the asparagus and set them aside. Dice the top half of the stalks (discard the rest) and set the diced asparagus aside.
Bring the stock to a steady simmer in a saucepan. Remove 1/4 cup, add saffron (*I used rosemary, which is fine) and set aside.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter with the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the onion and cook for about 6 minutes, until it’s golden.
Add the carrot and cook for about 5 more minutes, followed by zucchini, diced asparagus and 1/2 tsp salt and cook for 5 minutes more.
Add the rice and stir until it’s completely coated with the oil. Add the wine and cook, stirring until it has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Now slowly add simmering stock to cover the rice and cook, stirring, until it’s evaporated. Repeat this, adding, stirring, evaporating, for about 20 minutes. Then add asparagus tips, peas (I didn’t use them), and the saffron (rosemary) stock and cook for another 5-10 minutes, until the rice is soft on the outside and still has a bit of a bite at the center. Add a few more spoonfuls of stock, remove pan from heat, and add the remaining 1 tsp of butter and the cheese.

Serves 4.

Ok, so I didn’t use the peas. Honestly, I forgot they were in the recipe when I was food shopping. Oh well. Like I said, I used rosemary instead of saffron and I used store-bought stock. It was delicious. It was a great consistency and I plan on warming some up for lunch today. It would serve 4 people as a big side dish, kind of like an appetizer size of meal. Brett and I had hearty portions with our shrimp, and Madeline had a mini bit of it. I have enough left for probably 2 sides for us for dinner tonight, if you want to gauge it that way.

So, I hope it’s less than a few weeks until I’m back with more from the book. Fingers crossed!! Happy cooking!

I was slightly disappointed come Christmas Eve. More in myself than anything. You see, I had spent all day attempting to cook with quite an eager, overtired toddler underfoot. While she was able to help with most of the desserts I was making (and the baklava was put together during naptime), I was not ready for her to cover her hands in pasta dough and run all over the house I had spent all week cleaning. Silly me did not read about the fact that I needed a potato ricer and/or food mill until the potatoes were boiling in the pot. Strike one. As we speak, Amazon is running a search for one/both of those so I can try again, as gnocchi is my dad’s absolute favorite food. I was really rushed making it as well, as it was getting late and I had hungry people waiting to be fed. Giulia’s sauce was really delicious, I thought, but my husband (sorry G!) still seems to prefer my own sauce (which is my grandmother’s recipe). My gnocchi was a little lumpy since I tried my best without a food mill. I was more disappointed in myself. I had been looking forward to making that recipe since finding it in the book, and everything else I made that day came out absolutely perfect, except the one I really wanted! So, live and learn. The consistency was right, but they were just a tad lumpy. I hope that next time (and I will definitely blog about it!) it comes out better.

As we say farewell to I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti, I feel very bittersweet. Partially because it was our first book, but I really felt myself understanding Giulia and where she came from, and I loved her story and her wonderfully positive take on everything. I feel like had we grown up closer to each other (Not like Nassau County and Brooklyn are terribly far away, but you get the point), I like to think we would have been friends. She had posted about this blog on her own twitter page (If you’re a fan of the book, or of her, follow her at @gmelucci) and on her own facebook page as well. There seems to be an unspoken camraderie of us Catholic School girls – kind of like the unspoken trials and tribulations of making it through years with those nuns. She is a fan of us, which makes this first book even more special – the fact that we were embraced so greatly by its author. I can only hope the future authors we read (and cook) enjoy our blog half as much as she has. So, thank you Giulia, for making our first couple of months with this blog SO worthwhile

I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday and enjoyed your time with your families and loved ones. We sure did!

Saturday we enjoyed some time with my dad back in PA- which brings me to some happy news He had gotten me a pair of faboosh boots for my birthday that were waiting on my doorstep when I came home on Friday… but when he showed up, Christmas gifts in tow, we decided we’d all tear into them and not wait. I am so glad I didn’t! I got my mixer!!! wooooooo! My poor husband looked at me like I was a freak – I was flipping out. I don’t think he’d seen me jump up and down like that since I found out I was pregnant LOL!

She’s fantastic, she’s beautiful, I have a crush on an inanimate object. Meet her! Since every mixer has a name, I knew I had to think of something perfect. So, without further adieu, please meet the newest addition to my kitchen – Betty!

Isn’t she gorge? Love her!

Anyway, back to the blogging! Brett’s dad came up today to visit and I had said he could choose what I made for dinner. His choice? Haddock. Now, honestly, I’m not really a super fishy person – I love love shellfish, but I just don’t eat other fish all that much. So, what do I do? I turn to Giulia, whose book has fast become my failsafe when I’m in the mood to make something and don’t know what. She has quite a few seafood recipes in Spaghetti, but this one I found to be simple enough for who I was cooking for. The recipe uses sole, but I found it to be yummy with the haddock. The guys loved it! And I used my baby for the first time – to make angel food cake for dessert!

Incendiery Sole*

*I used halibut. Any firm, white fish should taste good in this recipe, but beware that the cooking times will vary slightly.

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1/3 cup olive oil
1 heaping cup bread crumbs
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbs chopped parsley
Freshly ground pepper
2 pounds sole or flounder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Combine butter and oil in a wide shallow bowl; season the bread crumbs with salt, parsley and pepper and spread on a plate. Dip the fish in butter and oil, covering thoroughly, then dredge through the breadcrumbs. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, until the crumb topping is slightly brown.
Serves 4-6.

This was delicious. I served it with my homemade mashed potatoes (yes, I used Betty this time for those!). You can find that recipe here.

Now, this isn’t from Giulia’s book. BUT I feel like I should post this because this isn’t a recipe you come across very often and it’s beyond amazing. I’d been looking for an exceptional angel food cake recipe for Brett’s birthday this past September. Of course, I turned to Marilla to enlist her help. She found this recipe from one of her baker friends, and my husband refuses to eat any other angel food cake. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 cup cake flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
12 large egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

NOTE: Note: For those not use to making angel food cakes Don’t get any yoke in the whites, if you do throw out and start over. I always separate the egg in a glass first. Then if no yoke pour into measuring container.

DO NOT GREASE PAN!

Heat oven to 375°.
Sift the cake flour and 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar; set aside.
Combine the extracts in a small bowl; set aside.
Beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt until it forms peaks.
Add the other 3/4 cup of sugar slowly, then beat on high until stiff peaks form.
If you have a mixing guard for your mixer bowl now would be a good time to attach it.
Beating on LOW, add flour mixture and extracts slowly.
Make sure you fold in the sides and bottom of your mixing bowl. You can fold in flour mixture by hand but this way is faster. Spoon into an angel food cake pan.
Move a knife through batter to remove air pockets.
Bake 30-35 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly with finger.
Invert pan onto a tin funnel to cool completely.
To remove the cake from your pan run a knife around the rim of the cake pan just to get the ‘crust’ away from the pan. Then firmly spank the sides of your pan. You could use a knife but this sometime tears the sides of the cake. Invert onto your serve plate then take the knife to the now top which was the bottom of your pan and gently cut cake away from the pan insert.

Enjoy!!

Me and Brianne and Gina haven’t seen each other in 10 years. Yes, 10 years. Since we graduated high school. And I haven’t seen Jeanine since August, so there was a lot to catch up on. So much in fact, we got booted from Franny’s for talking and keeping the table too long! Understandable, it’s a small place and it became very crowded, and we were sort of stuck in our own little world.

The food was awesome: me and Brianne had the buffalo mozzarella/garlic/oregano pizza and a Sixpoint Craft Ales Sweet Action (a local Brooklyn beer). Gina also had the buffalo mozzarella/garlic/oregano pizza with a  glass of Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso (red wine from Sicily). Jeanine ordered the tomato/olives/garlic/oregano pizza with a cocktail dubbed the ‘Brooklyn’: Maker’s Mark, sweet vermouth & fresh lemon juice. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know I enjoyed the food as much as the company, and that’s saying something! The beer was pretty good, but as Brianne said later, it was a little “hop-y” for me. I’d order it again though. Jeanine’s only complaint was that the drink came in a  girly martini glass (come on, it’s MAKER’S MARK, not a Cosmo!), and was small for the $11. After being booted (and I say that in the nicest possible way) we moved across/down the street to Bar(n), a bar connected with the Flatbush Farm. There I ordered a Kelso of Brooklyn beer, the type of which I do not know, which is unfortunate because I enjoyed it a lot and would like to have it again, or get some for home. I know they sell the Pilsner at Franny’s, so maybe it was the same.  Jeanine ordered a whiskey sour, Brianne got a Stoli orange and Gina got a vodka cranberry. I can’t speak for the other ladies’ drinks, but they were, for the most part, finished when we left …so they must have been good.

Unfortunately, Wednesday nights are work nights, so we couldn’t stay out late and meet up with Giulia. That was a bummer, but we had a terrific evening anyway.

As we get ready to make our finale dish for I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti : the gnocchi, and we prepare to start our second book, Garlic & Sapphires, this was a perfect way for us to not only catch up and have a nice evening out, but to toast one another on a successful beginning to our new group blogging venture!

It was early to bed for the rest of the house tonight.  I ate one of the delicious cupcakes I made last night while pondering what to make myself for dinner (they ate leftovers from Thanksgiving). I settled on a reheated stuffed artichoke and a batch of Giulia’s pastina.  I have to say, it’s perfect comfort food.  My mom always made it for us as kids, but not this way. I have to say, this is much better.  Something about snuggling up under a blanket  with a nice bowl of that is the perfect way to end the weekend.

Pastina

1/4 cup pastina
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp butter
1 tablespoon freshly grated parmigiano
Freshly ground pepper

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan, add pastina and salt, and cook until most of the water is absorbed, 3-4 minutes. Turn off heat and add the egg, letting it cook on the hot pasta, then add the butter, cheese, and a little pepper. Serves 1.

Now, it sounds a little funny to think I baked these bourbon-iced, funnily-named cupcakes with my almost-2 year old, but we had a blast. All she knew was we were making cupcakes. I keep a jar of vanilla frosting in the house just in case, and I iced her one with that. She had a great time helping me mix the ingredients and stir the batter in my not-so-great yard-sale-bought stand mixer… (my birthday is December 15…cough cough KitchenAid cough cough..) and I put the icing together after she went to bed.

My icing didn’t turn out quite as it should though – maybe it’s my crappy mixer, maybe because I used whiskey because it’s all I had in the house, or I added a touch too much milk. The icing was a little too thin, but they were yummy. I love a good cupcake and a good drink… and this combined both. After a whirlwind weekend, I found myself at home with a sleeping child (Brett is headed to Delaware to buy a 1973 Nova..his latest “toy”) and a delicious cupcake and a glass of wine.

For those of you who are new bakers, this recipe is quite easy to make. They’re delicious, and you don’t need a breakup to have a reason to make them. Try it out, and if you’re too afraid, grab Giulia’s book and remember, (from one chocolate lover to another) frozen Yodels are always a great failsafe if the cupcakes don’t quite turn out right!

Fuck You Cakes

Cupcakes:
Cupcake liners
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 whole milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Insert liners into muffin tins. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Cream butter and sugar with a hand mixer (or a standing mixer fitted with a paddle) at medium speed until fluffy; add eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, and beat until smooth. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the sifted ingredients to the butter mixture a little at a time, alternating with the milk until fully incorporated. Do not overmix, as this will make for tough cupcakes, and you’ve suffered enough.
Spoon batter into muffin tins, filing each one a third of the way. Bake until tops are golden and springy, 20-25 minutes. Yield: about 12 cupcakes.

Chocolate Bourbon Frosting
(because you need a drink)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2-3 tablespoons bourbon (depending on how bad it was)
4 tablespoons milk
1 stick butter, unsalted, very soft
1 box confectioner’s sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk

In a small bowl, whisk the cocoa, bourbon, and 2 tablespoons milk. Cream the butter with a hand mixer or standup mixer on medium speed until smooth, then add the sugar 1 cup at a time until fully incorporated. Add the bourbon mixture and continue beating a little at a time until the frosting is fluffy and spreadable.

Giulia’s note:Don’t be so upset with yourself that you eat more than one or two cupcakes.  Be angry with him! Bring whatever is left to work.  Your colleagues will eat these and you’ll feel lighter for having shed him and not OD’ing on cupcakes.

Of all people, I love a good chocolate cake. I am all about healthy, fulfilling, delicious food – but I have my vice, and it’s chocolate. Chocolate bars, cupcakes, cake, ice cream, brownies, you name it – I’ll eat it. Like her, I too am quite opposed to eating a Valentine’s Day dinner in a restaurant. I’d much rather cook a nice quiet meal for the both of us, that we can enjoy with our own wine that isn’t costing an arm and a leg (and not paying for a babysitter) and we can throw on pj’s and relax on the couch with the rest of the bottle afterwards.

This cake was so delicious. It was definitely a hit. After a long day and heavy foods, this cake was just what everyone needed. I’d never used parchment paper before, and I now understand why it called for it. The batter ends up so thin that I needed that support of the paper to get it out to cool it on the racks. It was very full-flavored, but it had a light, airy texture to it that melted in my mouth. It didn’t make its way onto the table until after 9, but we all ate it. I did avoid the food coloring, and Giulia was right – it never looked like a “pretty” cake, I don’t know if the icing was a little too thin and didn’t quite look how I wanted, but hell, it was so good no one cared!

~Hot Pink Cake~
Cake:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, left out of fridge for about 30 minutes
1 stick butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup whole milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter and flour two 8″ baking pans and line with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Add eggs, butter, milk, and vanilla and beat at a medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until all ingredients are combined and the cocoa bits are smoothed out. Stir in the boiling water. Pour batter into pans and bake at 350 degrees until a cake tester comes out with moist crumbs, about 30-35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pans, then transfer to cooling racks. Wait until they have cooled completely before frosting.

For the frosting:
1 stick very soft butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar
3-4 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla
a little too much red food dye (optional!)

Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer at low speed until creamy. Add more milk if necessary. The trick is for the icing to be not too thin and not too goopy.

Yield: enough for 1 8-inch cake or 24 cupcakes

Dolores Fraser’s Meat Loaf
2 pounds ground beef
1 envelope Onion Soup Mix
3/4 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup ketchup
oil/butter for greasing pan
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons mustard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine the first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well with your hands. Form into a loaf and bake in a 13 x 9 pan greased with some oil or butter (I used Pam). Frost with 2 tablespoons mustard mixed with 2 tablespoons ketchup. Bake for 1 hour. *Don’t be alarmed by the fact that it’s red when you take it out – that’s the frosting. The meat loaf is done.*

I mixed this recipe up a bit – my husband hates ketchup with a passion. I halved the ketchup and added 2 tablespoons of A1. I also added an egg, as I usually do in my own meatloaf recipe. I added a clove of minced garlic, because, lets face it, everything’s better with garlic.

For the frosting, I substituted Mr. Mustard (spicy brown mustard) and used 1 part ketchup 1 part A1.

Thumbs up on this recipe. My husband is NOT a meat loaf fan in any way, and he devoured this. It was nice and moist, and the garlic and onion soup mix gave it a nice zest over mom’s boring meat loaf. I made it with some simple steamed broccoli and my homemade mashed potatoes.

Homemade Mashed Potatoes
4 Russett Potatoes, cubed.
1 stick butter
1/2 cup 1% milk

Heat large saucepan of water over medium-high heat. Add potatoes, bring to a boil. Let boil roughly 20-25 minutes, when potatoes are tender with a fork, drain the majority of the water. Turn burner off and return pot to burner. Let some of the remaining water soak into the potatoes, approx. 5 minutes.

Melt 1 stick of butter and add milk over low heat in small saucepan. I do this because I find if I add cold butter and milk, the potatoes get a little gluey, and this keeps them creamy. I put them in my stand mixer with the butter/milk mixture and blend on medium-low speed. I add a clove or two of garlic and serve. Yum!

All in all, even with my additions/changes to this meat loaf recipe, YUM!